Career Roadmap
Barbara's work combines: Education, Writing, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Special Education and Teaching, General
Oral Roberts University
Graduate Degree
Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities
Oral Roberts University
Graduate Degree
Special Education and Teaching, General
Oral Roberts University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Chief Executives:
High School
Bachelor's Degree: Special Education and Teaching, General
Graduate Degree: Education/Teaching of Individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities
Graduate Degree: Special Education and Teaching, General
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
When I was in second grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia.
2.
I was falling behind scholastically which frustrated me. I studied hard, but my grades were poor.
3.
I decided I wanted to go college, so I started teaching myself new ways to study.
4.
While I was in college, I made the National Dean's List. As a kid, I'd thought that'd be impossible.
5.
After graduating, I started teaching math to students with learning and attention issues.
6.
From the time I arrived, until the end of the year, my students' performance improved by 2-5 years.
7.
All of the kids I taught ended up going to the colleges they wanted to go to and finding success.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Teachers:
You're lazy. You're not trying. You don't have any abilities or talent. You'll never be as good as the rest of these students.
How I responded:
I had to learn to ignore that negativity and understand who I was inside. My grandmother was a teacher who showed me that I was talented in different ways, and that someday my hard work would pay off. I learned that if I accepted my obstacles and kept trying, I really could move past them and succeed at anything.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
When I was in school, and my teachers started undermining my intelligence, that negativity spread to my peers and eventually got into my own head. I found success overcoming that by giving myself positive affirmation and reinforcement every day.