Who Is Stephany?

I’ve grown up all around the St. Petersburg, Florida area. I am the youngest of two. My brother is 14 months older than me and we fought like cats and dogs growing up. The only time we got along were holidays and those late nights where my parents fought. My dad is a controlling, gambling addicted, perfectionist. He is a bear to live with. He wants everything to be his way or no way. We walked on pins and needles around him. And when my parents fought, it was nasty. My father was not adverse to using his fists.

My mom finally left my father when I was in 5th grade and it wasn’t a moment too soon. I was thrilled and happy to leave my father and start a new life. So we moved in with my grandma, grandfather, twin cousins, and uncle. It was a full house and while we were there, we had to move to another house with them. It was crazy and I never want to do that again! We then bumped around a number of apartment homes. We struggled a lot with finances. My mom was trying to survive solely on a day care teachers salary. She tried to shield us from it as much as possible but we were smart kiddos and knew things weren’t as good as they seemed.

Middle school was horrible for me. I suffered with insomnia in 6th grade while my mom suffered with depression. It wasn’t a happy place to be. I didn’t really have my mom for that year so it was tough. 7th and 8th grade were better but not great. I was chunky and I didn’t have a good self-concept. I had a great group of friends that were such a good support system, though. My father was sent to jail for 3 months during 7th grade. He had stolen $2,000 from my grandma to support his gambling habit. It was tough but we talked on the phone and I was so busy with my life that it didn’t bother me too much.

High school came and I struggled through that. It was fun and it wasn’t fun. There was so much drama that all high schoolers deal with. I tried out anorexia but I hated it – mainly because I love food too much! I was accepted at a new high school in 11th grade. The school was a charter school where I would earn college and high school credit for classes, and earn my Associates of Arts degree in the process. In June 2004, the summer before I started 11th grade, my dad was sent back to prison. This time it was for 2 years for battery against his brother, grand theft auto, and drug possession. Yowza. This one really hit me hard because I was so upset with him and my dad wanted me to still think he was the greatest guy in the world. And he wasn’t. This was when our relationship really started to suffer.

High school at the charter school was great! I was happy and doing well in all my classes. I also found my major. I had a friend who was taking some education classes. I needed some extra classes in the last semester of my senior year so I took 3 education classes: Introduction to Education, Teaching Diverse Populations, and Introduction to Educational Technology. I took them and LOVED THEM! I had found my passion. It was such an amazing feeling. I miss those last 2 years of high school so much.

I applied at the University of South Florida, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida. I was supposed to apply as a transfer but applied as a freshman. I only got into the USF (my SAT scores SUCKED). But I’m happy at USF and it’s where I’m meant to be.

I decided to try the “dorm life” at USF. I was paired with a roommate who was completely different from me. We didn’t have the same values and morals. And it was the worst year of my life. I cried myself to sleep the first night and called my mom crying. My roommate had left with some friends and I felt so lonely. I was accepted into the College of Education on my 19th birthday, which was exciting. My roommate started dating a guy in September, who would take my drinks and food without asking. It was so rude and I wasn’t used to people being like that. I blew up at her one day in December when I got back to the room after work to find myself left without ANY drinks! I shouted down the hallway. She came back with a new 12-pack of Coke and chocolate. I really found my faith for the first time in college. I think I was meant to be roomed with this girl because it made me rely on Jesus. I was really into it and really enjoying a newfound Christian faith. My roommate moved out in late January, leaving me with my own room for the rest of the year! It was great and I absolutely loved it.

So I moved back home in May 2007. I was happy to be back in my own environment. I began working at a daycare in May, which was fun but tiring. I worked with the infants who were oh-so-adorable and fun. It was exciting to see those babies grow and develop. I enjoyed it but when I started back at school in August, it got bad because I went to different rooms and didn’t enjoy it at all.

I’ve done 2 student teaching internships. My first one was from September-December 2007 in a 1st-grade classroom. I found it fun and enjoyable. It wasn’t the grade I wanted to do but I loved my cooperating teacher and the students. My second internship was from January-April 2008 in a 4th-grade classroom. I found this depressing and horrible. This was the grade I wanted to teach but I had the worst cooperating teacher. She didn’t let me teach but when she did, she would always interrupt me to tell me the RIGHT way to do it. I didn’t agree with the way she taught and the way she treated her students. Her words to me, in my 3rd week of internship (or should I say “observation?”), was, “Think very hard and very seriously about why you want to be a teacher. Because if I had to do it over again, I would never have become a teacher.” She was a real piece of work.

So now I sit here – August 2008. I start my final student teaching internship in September. It’s in a 4th-grade classroom and I hope it will go much better. I find it such a struggle to be faithful to God. There are some aspects of Christianity that I don’t totally agree with (like homosexuality) but I know there is no faith other than Christianity that I want to be involved in.