For the past six months I have had the privilege of working as a Visitation Coach for the County of Napa. As a Visitation Coach, I supervise visits between children who are in the foster care system and their parents. These children are removed from their home for reasons such as neglect, drug abuse, or domestic violence. During a visit, I observe parents' interactions with their children and take notes of what happens during the visit. I redirect behavior as needed from either the parents or the child. At times it seems as if I'm just sitting there and not doing much, but every visit moves something within me. Every time I walk into a visit room, I say a little prayer to myself. I ask God, "Where are you in this circumstance? Help me find You and bless this family."
During the first months of working as a Visitation Coach, I reflected on God's call for me in my career. At this point I had been out of school for 6 months. I had a degree in Sociology and was getting Social Work experience through this part time job. However, my position limited my authority in the case management process for each family. Any question parents ask needs to be directed to the Social Worker in charge of their case. Due to the limitations, I asked myself, "Do I want to go back to school to get my Masters in Social Work? Or do I want to wait to find a full time job with the degree I already have and then see what I want to go back to school for?"
I began looking for full time jobs and looking at grad school programs for Social Work, but the more I looked the more I was confused about God's call. Then one day during a visit, things began to open up for me. I walked into the visit room and said my little prayer. I sat in the back taking my notes and watched as the little girl asked her dad for help with her homework. Dad sat quietly for a second and then said, "I wish you hadn't asked me to help you with the reading because you know I don't know how." The little girl sadly looked down at her paper and attempted to work on the assignment by herself.
After a few seconds, the little girl asked if I could help her with the homework because otherwise she wouldn't know how to do it and she wouldn't turn it in the next day. She said she had a lot of missing assignments. As I got up to help the little girl with her homework, I was overwhelmed with emotion. I began to see how the circumstances of these children and their families affect their education. For many of these kids, education is their ticket out of poverty and the cycle of abuse, neglect, and drugs.
I went home that day with the thought of wanting to make a difference in education for these children in foster care and just children in general in the school system. Education has always played an important part in my life and I had thought about being a teacher before. I remembered that Santa Clara University had great programs through the School of Education. I began looking at the different programs Santa Clara offered. I called the admissions office to get more information about the application process, but kind of left it on the back burner for a while.
A month passed and I found myself on Facebook. There I saw a post Father Jack Treacy had shared about the new Excel Program Santa Clara University would be starting in the summer. This program gives six students the opportunity to receive their Masters in Teaching and Teaching Credential at no cost while serving the underserved children of the Diocese of San Jose. I immediately clicked on the link and fell in love with everything about the program. I attended the info session in January and met the amazing director of the program. She shared with me her experiences of working with foster children as a teacher and I got the goose bumps thinking about the difference I could hopefully make for many kids like them. I didn't hesitate and turned in my application in January. After 2 months of waiting, I got an email with the interview details. The interview was the same day as when Alex and I had booked a flight to Washington to visit friends. That was the only day for the interview, so Alex went and I stayed for a wonderful interview experience!
And it was worth it!!!!
In June I will be going back to school to become a teacher! I am so excited and humbled by where the Lord is leading me in life. The Lord said, "Let the children come to me." He is calling me to serve them and I am ready to answer His call.
Special thanks to my parents and family who have always supported my dreams. I would also like to thank my mentors and teachers who molded me into who I am today. I pray to inspire students in the same way many of my teachers and mentors inspired me in and out of the classroom.
