I DID IT!

There were a number of times when I didn’t think I would make it., especially on this last quarter of classes. But here we are and I am but a few hundred words away from being able to say I AM DONE!

This last year of this program has been incredibly challenging because not only was I learning about how to be an effective leader and administrator in class, but I was living the challenge as well as I settled into my new role as Director at work. So, many of the areas that we have been studying, I was living and while this first-hand experience came in handy many times, there were also plenty of times where my career trumped school. There were many times where I had to dedicate more hours or more time and attention to ensuring my students, staff and families were taken care of and their need being met and I could not dedicate that necessary time to class, assignments and studying.

But, I did it. And what I have taken away from this particular capstone project is that I can see a vision to fruition as long as I am committed and dedicated to see it develop, flourish and prosper. I also learned that there is also a bevy of support available for any goal you may hope to accomplish, it is up to you to however to seek it out and utilize it, and finally, I learned an area of focus that is very important to me-which is ensuring our young children of color have a support system in place and an equitable opportunity to succeed despite their immediate barriers (lower-income housing, single-parent households, institutional and societal racism).

One of the immediate goals I hope to accomplish is to simply survive the first semester of my Doctorate program. Once that is complete, I know that I am on the way to achieving my greater goal of providing high quality education and equal access to high quality education for all.

To Dr.Teri and all of my colleagues in the program and this capstone course: it has been a wonderful journey getting to know most of you and as our cohort moved through the program, it has been a tremendous experience seeing how much we have all learned. Dr. Teri, you are truly committed to seeing us succeed and again, while it seemed difficult at times, you kept us going and wouldn’t allow us not to succeed. From food poisoning to dental surgery, the month of July was a very difficult one for me, but I did the best I could and knowing I can do better, I will take that and apply it to my Doctorate program.