Ellis

I have loved young kids for the longest time, including when I was a child myself. Kids have been a common theme in most of my work and school experience so far.

I grew up with more babydolls than a little girl could ever need and I always gravitated towards young children whenever I had the opportunity. I would make it my job to become the toddlers’ buddies at gatherings of family and friends.

The only job I have held that did not involve kids was an employee at a wedding dress shop. After starting that job, it quickly became clear that customer service was not the job I would flourish in. I would much rather be in the chaos of childcare than the chaos of brides and their families.

I started babysitting for local families after leaving the bridal shop job and babysitting was really fun for me. It was a job that I looked forward to rather than dreaded. After I confirmed that I still loved to be with young kids, I registered for the early childhood education (ECE) class that was offered at my high school.

I luckily got the class starting my sophomore year and I was so excited. I took that class for three years in highschool and it was my favorite class all three of those years. My highschool was somewhat unique in that it had a lab-style daycare attached to it. The kids ages ranged from as young as three months to age four. Most of the kids had a parent that worked in the highschool and sometimes I went straight from a teacher’s class to seeing their child the next period. During the ECE class, we would spend half of our time learning about child development and education and the other half helping in the daycare.

I really enjoyed helping out in the daycare and I showed a lot of interest in the class. My teacher noticed this and hired me as an employee at an afterschool program for older kids that was associated with the daycare. Throughout my senior year, I worked at the afterschool program, which had kids ages four through twelve.

I was then hired to be a teacher/helper at the daycare with the infant and toddlers in the summer before I came to UGA. I loved this opportunity and it was my first time working long hours for an extended period of time. I worked in the daycare up until I had to leave