Education begins with trust and faith.

 Before we are even born, our brains are developing.  Once we are born, we learn who is familiar and safe and we begin to develop the important task of gaining trust in relationships.  If we fail to develop trust with the main caregiver or parent in the first 18 months of life- the sequential developmental milestones are difficult to achieve successfully per the Erik Erikson theory of human development.  This is a framework that I have found particularly useful since I first heard about in 2013 while taking classes in a prenursing program that I was part of.  

After my second daughter was born, I felt parenting was hard and it pushed me to the edges of what I could handle.  I knew I needed to grow and my work with students inspired me to go back to school for nursing- hopefully to continue working with youth.  My goal was to be a school nurse during the school year and spend my summers at summer camps.  I ended up not completing the program but did complete the courses in the first year and a half which I would say helped me so much.  Attending school in and of itself can be a kind of therapy where you meet new people, work with inspiring professors, learn about new opportunities and programs and possibillities, set goals each day to complete homework and more.  My time going back to school after having already graduated with a bachelors degree really inspired me even though I ended up not completing the program to go back to work.  When I eventually chose to go back to school to get my masters degree from the University of Southern California, I really knew myself much more including where both my interests and strengths crossed. 

While attending USC, I learned even more about myself and my interests and talent for teaching.  When the Erik Erikson framework came up in my first course "Pedagogy and Curriculum" I knew I was in the right place.  I knew this because I trusted myself and even going back to the start of my life- I did develop trust.  Although the trust to my caregivers was not perfect- I had something else that my grandparents inspired in me which was trust in God.  Although I learned more about God intellectually as I matured in later childhood, I was taught to feel the presence of God and to trust that feeling of being cared for and having my needs met.  Even when I was in my first eighteen months of life, I can confidently say when I reflect on pictures that I had a trust in God.  I feel this trust in God and relationship with God gave me an edge in life to be resilient, to feel loved, and to help myself and even others.  It was through my grandparents and their church family that I developed this trust which was really faith.  

It is why today as I develop my own business I invite people to be part of this faithful vision and ride the waves of change with grace.  I envision students and clients also responding to a higher calling in life and I want to support those students and clients as they grow.  The future is full of surprises and in order to meet those challenges we all need to grow and learn to navigate the waves.  Afterall, once you know how, it is really quite fun!