The factors in my daily environments that are supportive to
me are my mom, sister, pastors, co-worker, and my children. Notice I mention
environments because I am thinking about how my support differs depending on
which environment I am in such as home or school. My mom, sister, pastors, and
children provide support to me in my home environment. In specific, my mom
offers her support through her encouraging words, prayers and by allowing me to
get some time to myself as she watches her grandchildren. My sister is my
"right hand man". She has been by my side to offer her support in so
many ways during some very difficult times in my life through encouragement,
offering her assistance around my house and with the children as needed, and
just being available so I can "vent". In addition, my pastors have
been my mentors providing their advice centered on biblical principles
regarding issues such as finances and life circumstances. My children, although
they are young offer their support because they assist around the house and
provide me with encouraging words and statements usually at the time that I
need them the most. Lastly, my co-worker has been a support for me within the
classroom and in my life, in general. We have a good personal relationship and
she supports my ideas/opinions regarding how to be a more effective educator
and in the classroom as a whole. She allows me to be myself and respects my
views regarding education. In addition, because we work so closely together in
our classroom she knows a lot about my family life and vice versa. She has
offered her support through her advice and encouragement.
Furthermore, in revisiting the issue of spirituality, it has
been the glue that holds all of my relationships within my support system
together. Therefore, all of my supports have very similar and equally strong
beliefs regarding spirituality as I do (my children are the exception because
their beliefs are being shaped by their environment and experiences). The
benefits of these relationships are that each of them provides me with the
motivation I need to better myself and my family. They encourage me to be the
best person that I can be in every area of my life. As a result, it would be
extremely difficult to exist without these supports because everybody needs
somebody or something that encourages them to be better. The impact from a lack
of these supports would be very detrimental to me and I don't think I would be
able to successfully function.
So, in imagining my life without these supports, which I could
not imagine, but for the purpose of this task I have to consider how my life
would be. Without, someone who supports me in my classroom like my loving coworker who allows me to
grow and develop as an educator, I would not be able to grow. Hence, I would be in a place that is stagnant
professionally. I definitely need to have a partner/co teacher who supports me
in my development and vice versa. In addition, if I did not have someone to
mentor me such as my pastors, it would take me longer to accomplish the goals I
have for the future. I know that in order to be a leader in the field of
education, I need to be organized because I will have a lot more
responsibilities with my future career. So, I would need a mentor to provide assistance and guidance
in helping me to get more organized in my finances and in life. If my children
were not around to assist me around the house, I would hire a maid or have to
complete all the housework on my own (tragic). But, I could manage that. In addition, if I did not have the
encouragement and support from my support system, I would have to be my own
cheerleader and during the difficult times it would be harder to overcome the challenges of life.
Last, but not least, without a belief in something higher than myself when all
of my other supports are non-existent, my quality of life would be very low. It
is so important to have belief, faith in something bigger than you. Ultimately,
without my supports, my life really would be miserable and without
purpose. For example, having children motivates a good parent to strive for a better quality of life for them. So, my perspective is that life would be a sad and lonely existence……
