Time Well Spent

I cannot believe that we are at the end of this journey and so close to completing our Master’s in Early Childhood Studies! I have learned so much from all of the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to interact with through these courses-my colleagues and professors-I cannot thank you all enough. Your support, knowledge, and resources have helped me take a step to pursue my dreams and better myself both personally and professionally.

I have taken a lot from this program and with the new resources, insights, and information that I have gained, I have three deeply felt things that stick out in my mind:

1. The importance of community. As early childhood professionals, we know the importance of family and community; we want to use the community as a resource and reflect it in our classrooms. However, I have learned that there is more to community than just what immediately surrounds us. We are also part of the community of early childhood professionals and advocates; it is important to also respect this community, add to it, utilize it, and help it grow. We can also be a part of a community of practice, or other individuals who share our commitment and practice to the well-being of children and families. We are also a part of the global community as well; we should have an awareness of what is happening to children worldwide and our role in the global community. All of these communities are important and can provide us with valuable information and knowledge.

2. Biases can be hidden...and overcome. Throughout this program, we were asked to do a lot of self-reflection and learn about any biases that we held so that we could work to overcome them. It was not easy to think of myself as a biased person because I have always considered myself to be very fair and open, but when I was able to honestly self-reflect I really began to grow, both personally and professionally. I learned that having a bias is not necessarily a bad thing as long as you are willing to look within yourself and overcome it! Biases are not only within ourselves, they are embedded into our society and so often we pass them onto young children, sometimes unknowingly. If we take the time to self-reflect, to analyze situations, curriculum, and materials that we are using, we can begin to make a difference and work towards becoming anti-biased and creating a positive, welcoming environment in our community. 

3. Learning is life-long. Now that I have completed this Master’s program, I have learned so much-and I have learned that there is so much more to learn! We can never know everything and we must be willing to seek out new knowledge: from research, from our colleagues and communities, and from the parents and children we work with. There is so much out there to learn and so much that we can do with the knowledge we gain. This program has provided me with valuable resources that I can use to make sure that I stay up to date on what is happening in the early childhood field and can work to expand my knowledge. 

My long-term goal is to work towards helping all the children in my community and beyond reach their full developmental potential. This is a long-term goal because it is ongoing and will require continuous reflection and adaptability since the community and contexts which children live in are constantly changing. It may seem like a large goal, but I have already started taking baby steps in the right direction!

Although this program is ending, I hope to keep in touch with many of you and wish you all the best of luck; I hope our paths will continue to cross! Thank you all and remember:

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” –Eleanor Roosevelt