Time Well Spent

I cannot believe we are at the end of this journey but only to embark upon another. Three deeply felt learnings that I have from this program is the key to success is knowing your passion and purpose in life. I also learned that it is critical to examine and respond to our own biases in order to respond adequately to others. Lastly, one person can make a difference, and everyone can inspire, but a community can accomplish so much more. One long term goal is that I will be an advocate on children's behalf for as long as I live, and to never let my passion die. My fairwell message to my colleagues is to keep the passion and believe that you can go out and make a difference. I will never forget the community that was built here and hope to connect with some of you one day. Thanks for all of your support and encouragement. To Dr. Myers, thank you for the positive feedback that I received as it gave me the drive to continue. I learned something from each and every class that I took and have high regards for this University. Here are two Quotes and a song that I leave you with. "The test of the Morality of a society is what they do for their children". Dietrich Bonhoeffer In America there is no "other people's children"- anonymous Here is a Song by Malvina Reynolds called "Little Boxes": And they all play on the golf course, and drink their martinis dry, and they all have pretty children, and the children go to school, And the children go to sumer camp, and then to the University, Where they put them all in boxes, and they come out all the same.

Jobs/Roles in the ECE Community: Internationally

The three international organizations that appeal to me is Save the Children at www.savethechildren.org, International Step by Step Association at www.issa.nl/index.html, and the Alliance for Childhood at www.allianceforchildhood.org. I was interested in Save the children because of their work rebuilding and restoring normalcy to children's lives after a disaster. One of their focus is to increase rural children's access to physical activities and nutrition which is in line with my Capstone challenge to restore play. Career options that I saw were emergency responders, education specialists, monitors and evaluators. Most of the jobs require specialized training or a teaching license. The International Step by Step Association was interesting because they form interest groups and task forces that work together on different issues related to children. Some of the jobs that I saw posted were translators and interpreters as well as an associate expert in the education field. The Alliance for childhood is an organization that I have always been interested in because of their play advocacy around the world. This is the website that I found the information on "playing out" which was a neighborhood play day that was started in England by two moms. This organization has helped individuals find their voice to go out and make a difference in their own neighborhood. I like the idea of ordinary people feeling confident and empowered to go out and actually do something. The best part is, there is not any special job requirements; just a passion to make a difference in the lives of children.