Learning has always been a thrill for me. While attending
Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I had my first learning
experience of living in the city - quite different from life on a farm.
Learning about the art and culture of people around the world started with
studies in art history and humanities, and increased in intensity with
trips to Spain, France, Switzerland, and Mexico.
The latter trip has changed me profoundly as a person. It
is this trip that has led me to want to enrich the lives of people in
other countries with the joys that art and education can bring them. This
summer I will be returning to Cuernavaca, taking Spanish lessons for free,
upon invitation by the language school's coordinator who was so impressed
by the computer assistance I had given her. While there, I will deliver
art supplies I have gathered from local art companies and may teach
art/adaptive art if time allows.
People have often described me as having a
"thirst" for knowledge. I do not hesitate to ask others for
clarification or answers, and I find researching an exciting adventure.
After careful analysis, synthesis and reflection, I am eager to share what
I have learned with others. Traveling abroad has answered some questions
but has created so many more. Even when I am on vacation, part of me still
is an educator, eager to share what I have learned with others. Students
can't help but pick up some of my enthusiasm for the topic, whether it is
a Oaxacan woodcarving or a landscape of the Alps. The personal touch that
I bring to the subject matter has increased student understanding and
appreciation of diverse cultures and art, enabling the young individuals
to create richer, more relevant artwork or discussions.
I am a highly motivated individual. I set high but
achievable goals and expend great effort to reach the goal. I am the only
person known to possess dual degrees in Adaptive Art and Assistive
Technology. I will also be the first person at the college to put his/her
Master's research project entirely on paperless form - on an interactive
multimedia CD. My undergraduate education was funded almost entirely with
scholarships and a few grants. Well aware that Gaenslen School had a 40%
disability rate, I sought to undertake the challenge, confident that I
would touch and enrich the lives of even the most severely disabled. Every
teaching day provides new challenges - how to enable the child to paint
who cannot hold a brush, to motivating the seventh grader with severe
learning disabilities who has low self esteem. The added responsibility of
teaching computer technology to grades K-3 and maintaining the school's
computers has provided yet another avenue for me to move beyond my comfort
level with computers and gain even more knowledge.
I am a keen observer, discovering the needs and interests
of my students, building upon their strengths and abilities. I strongly
believe that all students can achieve and make every effort for success.
Students soon realize that with hard work and effort, they can accomplish
things. In the art classroom, I utilize a variety of media and techniques,
understanding that strengths are recognized through repetition and
diversity. Once students discover their niche such as handbuilding with
clay, they seem to be more apt to undertake the unfamiliar.
An overseas teaching adventure would provide growth as a
professional, strengthen skills in a foreign language, and develop an
appreciation of cultures not possible by other means. Embarking on a new
journey of international teaching at this point in my life would be
advantageous. I am single and unattached, will have finished my graduate
studies, and do not own a home. I am energetic, flexible and am open to
new experiences.
RÉSUMÉ
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melissae@pitnet.net