| Personal Information About Me |  |
Well I don't want to get to personal about myself, not that I suspect any
of you of being stalkers or anything. Just kidding! Anyway, I was born and
raised in the same town I work in, East
Chicago, Indiana. I come from a family of six siblings and am a fairly
well adjusted middle child. I have ventured to live in other cities such as
Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS. I've lived in Bloomington and Indianapolis,
Indiana. My last location before finally moving back to East Chicago was Houston,
Texas. Believe the commercials, Texas really is like a whole other country.
I
guess what I appreciate most about growing up here in the Midwest is the diversity.
I think growing up in such a "melting pot" like East Chicago, where
steel mill giants once ruled, made it easy for me to learn to get along with
people from all ethnic backgrounds and from all walks of life. As
I became older, I knew that many of my friends would graduate high school
and head straight for the high paying jobs in the mills. But East Chicago
is now an economically challenged area. The days of the large
steel mills are gone and with them, all the high paying jobs. Many of our
best and brightest people that have gone on to college, have left the area.
So it is a challenge to encourage those who have chosen to stay here that
better days are ahead. Our town faces the challenge of trying to attract high
tech companies and industries that can revitalize our area. So we continue
preparing our students to meet those needs. I like knowing that I have made
a difference in my students' lives. I take great pride when going to the local
stores in the area and seeing some of the younger students wave and smile
at me. They point me out to their parents as the "computer lady."
I
am the proud mother of a seventeen year old daughter. She is an academic honors
student at the local high school. I am both excited and afraid to send her
out into the world, but I believe that I have prepared her to meet the challenge.
When I am not working, I like to spend time with my family - siblings included.
I like to travel, attending sporting events, going to the many ethnic festivals
in the area, dancing and going to concerts. I look forward to the spring because
that is when I get to go camping. I have a trailer that I like to use to "get
away from it all" on the weekends. I am also very active in sports. After
spending years being a couch potato, I have taken up my love for playing volleyball
and softball again and enjoying myself. I treasure the friends that I have
grown up with and the new friends that I have made. They have all been a source
of strength and comfort to me.
So
that's me in a nutshell. I
am glad I've taken this Dreamweaver course. It has made me focus on how much
I still need to learn. Being an adult learner has its challenges, and has
inspired me to either pursue my MBA or go back to college for a degree in
technology. I offered to be a roomie with my daughter at IU, but she would
have none of that. Too bad!