My Story
Hello, I'm Dominique Overton and I am from Flint, MI attending Western Michigan University studying secondary education -English with a minor in communications since 2007. When i accomplish my goal of getting my degree I hope to teach grades 9th-12th while furthering my education as a teacher. I started my journey as a educator in my third year of at Western when I realized that my current major in business management at the time didn't fulfill my needs pertaining to a career involving helping others. I have always been a talented writer throughout high school and college so I thought to myself what can I do with my life in which I can help others in an exciting environment?
During a visit to my old high school I encountered a student in her sophomore year with the vocabulary and writing abilities at a 5th grade level and I asked my later mentor how a student could possibly advance this far in secondary education without the basic writing skills that this student lacked, and my former teacher informed me that this student had been constantly moved from place to place so much because of her families financial situation that she wasn't in a school long enough to learn adequately, therefore each of teachers decided it was best just to pass her on so that she could stay update with her testing, passing this student because she met the minimum requirements to pass each grade. After talking to one of my favorite teachers from high school it finally clicked that I wanted to teach. I now felt an obligation to understand how students learn and retain information and what I could offer to my students who don't realize the joy of understanding, reading, and writing literature. Being a person of color and from a town with such a negative reputation I want to show kids faced with the same challenges I faced, how they can be successful if they focus and work hard. The most important thing I hope they learn from me is my dedication to learning and understanding things independently.
During a visit to my old high school I encountered a student in her sophomore year with the vocabulary and writing abilities at a 5th grade level and I asked my later mentor how a student could possibly advance this far in secondary education without the basic writing skills that this student lacked, and my former teacher informed me that this student had been constantly moved from place to place so much because of her families financial situation that she wasn't in a school long enough to learn adequately, therefore each of teachers decided it was best just to pass her on so that she could stay update with her testing, passing this student because she met the minimum requirements to pass each grade. After talking to one of my favorite teachers from high school it finally clicked that I wanted to teach. I now felt an obligation to understand how students learn and retain information and what I could offer to my students who don't realize the joy of understanding, reading, and writing literature. Being a person of color and from a town with such a negative reputation I want to show kids faced with the same challenges I faced, how they can be successful if they focus and work hard. The most important thing I hope they learn from me is my dedication to learning and understanding things independently.