Before becoming a teacher, I graduated with a AS in Accounting and Data Processing. I worked in the furniture industry until I had my first child. I decided to become a stay at home mother. Once my youngest child was in Kindergarten, I decided to go back to work. In order to be at home when my children were I decided not to go back into my field of study. Instead I became a substitute teacher working at the same school my children attended. After a little while, it was suggested to me that I go back to school and get my degree in Education and become a full-time teacher. While continuing to raise my three children, 2 boys and a girl, I returned to school at Lees McCrea College through a satellite program at Western Piedmont Community College. I graduated in 2007 with a BA in Elementary Education K-6 with a 3.99 GPA. After a few years of teaching, I realized that my passion was working with students with disabilities. I studied and took the Praxis test to obtain my Special Education Certification. I am highly qualified by the state of NC both in Elementary Education and Special Education K-12. I have been teaching in special education ever since. There is no joy greater to me than seeing the light in my students’ eyes when they finally achieve success with whatever they may have been struggling with.