Hi, I'm Michelle!

I am a San Diego native! Born and raised in SD, I went through school out in the east county. For those familiar with the area, I attended K-6 at Fuerte Elementary, 7th grade at Emerald Junior High, 8th grade at Hillsdale Middle School, and high school at Valhalla (V-H-S Norseman!) I went to Grossmont College for a  year after high school as a business major, before deciding it wasn't for me. I spent the next 5 years working and figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.....teach! I went back in 2006 and spent 2 years at Mesa College before transferring to San Diego State. I just graduated and received my bachelor's degree this past spring in Liberal Studies and will start the Special Ed. credential program at San Marcos this fall. A little bit about me....I am an identical twin, and currently connect with my twin sis through a variety of technology (Google voice, Skype, email, facebook, twitter) while she is living in Switzerland! Its hard being away from her so Im super thankful that it is so easy to connect across an ocean! I have been married to my wonderful husband Adam for almost 3 years, and we are currently parents to our 4-legged child, Ollie, a west highland terrier (westie)....and yes, we are those crazy dog people. ha! I like to hike, take Ollie to dog beach, play tennis and swim, volunteer with the San Diego Humane Society, go out for sushi and love going to the movies.

As I mentioned, I do use a variety of technology to communicate with my sister so I am familiar with the computer and social networking. I do have a personal blog, that I am horrible at updating, so Im hoping this class renews my motivation to post some new material. I mostly post about our life in SD to keep friends and family out of town in the loop. I love the computer, but feel like I still have much to learn so Im very excited about this class! I am an avid Apple fan, and made the switch when I started school again about 6 years ago. My husband and I like to joke that we keep Apple in business...anyone else feel like that? I try to draw the line with how much time I sit in front of the computer/play on my phone! Its easy to be sucked in!....and yes Im still trying to figure out where the line is...maybe when I start go go cross-eyed :) So to sum up this paragraph, I heart my computer.

I really connect with the Mission Statement when it talks about "educational equity and social justice." Every student deserves a chance at a fair and free education. Unfortunately we all know in reality that life isn't fair. It is my goal, and hope, that as future teachers, we give our students every opportunity to succeed. We must hold the bar up high for them, and stand up for them, when they cannot speak for themselves. CSUSM is very different from San Diego State. I really like the feel of a smaller, friendly community from what I have seen so far in my interview, on campus and from our first class meeting. I know I made the right choice when I decided to accept an invitation to the credential program at San Marcos.