Relationship Reflection

        Relationships are important to me because I know that we need others to survive.  Without my mother, cousin, teachers, Godmother, and others in my life I would be a loner.  I can't imagine never interacting with these people.  They are my reason for succeeding in life.  Without these people in my life helping me to set goals, supplying my needs, and encouraging me I would not be able to reach my full potential.  I have gained trust in all of these people and because of this we spend a lot of quality time together.

       My mother and I have the most important relationship in my life.  She has been the driving force in my life since I was born.  She has instilled good morals and values in me.  Her positive attitude and her commitment in assisting in me being the best that I can be is the most influential and positive role model that I need.  Because of her love, support, dedication, and her commitment to serve at all of my school plays, programs, classroom activities, and athletic functions, she will always be my best friend and partner. 

        My cousin Abe and I have a close bond.  We established our relationship when I was in the seventh grade.  He has always given me encouraging words, and has passed on his positive attitude to me.  He has assisted me with homework assignments, and supported me at every event that I was a part of.  He also encouraged me to start my studies at Walden University.  Because of his time, love, support, and encouragement I am now on my third course at Walden University.  I wanted to sit out for a year after I received my BS but he insisted that I continue my educational journey and so I did.

        My Godmother whom I call Momma Carter and I have a relationship that is just as close as my biological mother.  She is the one that stressed reading at an early age.  She always took me to the public library to check out books to read.  Our relationship is wonderful because she always gave me the push I needed to read my books.  Because she pushed me so much I received the reading award which was a  pin that I still have to this day.  I often take it out of my drawer in look at it.  It was the best accomplishment for me as a first grader.  She showed me love, support, and she gave me so much of her time.  She is another positive factor in my life.

        Some of the challenges to developing and maintaining relationships came when I was in the eleventh grade.  The time my mother spent with me had to be adjusted when my brother was born.  This was a big adjustment for me because for seventeen year I had all of her attention.  Now I had to share it with my baby brother.  I was so used to having my mother all to myself.  She assured me that she loved us both equally and I soon adjusted but it was a challenge for me.  The other challenge for me was the communication that I had with my cousin was cut short when he went to law school.  He was always my listening ear.  I could talk to him and he would listen before he analyzed the situation.  That has also been resolved because he is out of Law School and is now the Assistant District Attorney for my hometown.  We talk often and so our relationship is still standing.

       I see love, trust, support, kindness, and encouragement as some of the special characteristics that has made our relationships partnerships.  All of these characteristics have enabled me to develop to my fullest potential.  My success is because of the relationships/partnerships that I developed with my mother, cousin and Godmother. 

        My experiences with relationships will impact my work as an educator in a positive way because I know that as an educator I must be able to communicate well with others, be kind, show love and concern, and be very encouraging.  I must be willing to give more of my time to assist my students and their parents so that we can form positive relationships.  I will do my best to build positive relationships with my student's and their parents because I know that it is the key to social and academic success of the children (Rudasill, K., Rimm-Kaufman, S. 2008).  When we all work together collaborative the results are always in the favor of the students which is academic success.



Reference

 

Rusasill, K., & Rimm-Kaufman, S. (2008). Teacher-child relationship quality: The roles of child's temperament and teacher-child interactions.  Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 24(2). 107-129  Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ProQuest Central database.