Meaghan MacNeil

My name is Meaghan MacNeil and I am a 21 year old who was born and raised in Sudbury ON. I grew up in several areas of Sudbury, and that involved me attending several different schools. I first went to Mcleod P.S for a year, then moved to Algonquin P.S for two years before switching to Copper Cliff P.S until I was in grade 6. From grades 7-10 I attended Marymount Academy, then I decided to go back to a co-ed public school to finish my final two years of high school at Lo-Ellen Secondary School.

As you can see, I moved a lot, and many may view that as difficult, but I see it as having gained great experience. Being able to have attended so many schools I’ve been able to see so many different learning environments and be taught by several different learning styles. These experiences have allowed me to see the importance of teachers accommodating their students in their class according to their learning style. Therefore, I feel that my moves from school to school has been extremely beneficial, for not only did it allow me to figure out my own learning style, but showed me the importance of teaching to a students needs.

Regardless of my several moves throughout my childhood, I have had a solid family life living between both my mother and father’s house. I have 2 younger brothers, ages 20 and 17, and my 20 year old brother was born with Fragile X and Autism. Growing up with brothers, as most would assume, was difficult but my difficulties were not from the common arguments from being close in age to my siblings. Having a brother with Autism and Fragile X, I had to grow up fast in order to help my single mom with the extra support and needs my brother required. This allowed me to develop a lot of skills in relation to helping children reach their full potential. Therefore although I had a great childhood, I certainly learned what maturity was pretty quickly.

Having proven to my parents my maturity at a young age, I have been privileged to have been able to do a lot of traveling through the years,from New York, to Punta Cana, Nova Scotia, PEI and my upcoming adventure in Italy this year. Although I have loved my travels and enjoying life through interests like poetry, movies and music, growing up with my brothers will always be the most memorable and valued experiences of my life. Therefore, I would love to be able to put the skills and experiences I gained from my brothers to good use by teaching the youth of the future.