2018 Goals

My goal for 2018 is to give back to the community and build lasting relationships. Over Thanksgiving last year I volunteered in St. Thomas with All Hands and Hearts rebuilding communities that were torn apart by hurricanes. I never felt better and more refreshed to wake up in the morning and go to work.

(Source https://patch.com/maryland/broadneck/o-malley-visits-aacc-for-student-roundtable-on-higher-education)
I am applying for volunteer positions at least once a month. This brings me back to my talk the Former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley and explained to him the struggles I encountered as a student and as a Peer Tutor. As a Peer Tutor I encountered peers with all different levels of social economical and ranges of learning styles. I explained to the governor that math is the very foundation of education and the reason for the low retention rate among Community College graduates. This translates to lower retention in fields that require math. I feel that I can give back as a STEM teacher and would like to continue inspiring students to dream bigger. This translates to my own personal struggle with STEM.

When I was a little girl no one ever told me I was going to be an Engineer. I watched my dad build a hovercraft with my brothers out of an old vacuum.

Thats me building my own for a class project
But I was not invited to participate. I was told I wasn’t good at math when I was in school and had a science teacher ask me if I was special. The truth was I was recovering from long term effects of Lyme disease that left me with some obstacles to overcome. I truly never wanted to go to college when I graduated. I took a nontraditional path. I worked in a trade as apprentice learning the care of American Kennel Club registered show dogs. After a few years I started to realize that hard work and perseverance gets you far in life. I applied for Community College and my life changed forever. I began to see the opportunities of an education in a field I never imagined. My scholarship programs encouraged me and gave me the tools to be a successful student and now employee. This Saturday I will be helping the Society of Women Engineering in the morning. I will be the led for food for the competition and judges. In the afternoon I will be photographing the competition. See my previous article. https://steemit.com/engineer/@toomuchcoffee/volunteers-needed-for-rube-goldberg-machine-contest