2 of 5: Short Essay Answers: How I Got Here

During the summer of 2005, I came to a professional crossroads in my life, and decided that I could better myself, and my prospects, by building upon my undergraduate degree and getting a Masters. It was shortly after that I decided English was where I wanted to pursue my future, and that UIC was the best fit for me, academically. Although my Bachelor's Degree from Kalamazoo College's class of 1999 is in music, I had been a declared double major, finishing my undergraduate years just one credit shy of a second degree in English. Since graduation, I had grown as a writer, finishing a novel, and maintaining an active writing practice that spanned a wide variety of personal and public functions—some pieces for my eyes alone, some for the world-at-large online, and some for performance during my "Downtown Dave" cabaret shows, which I had been performing routinely since 2002. I knew that I needed to go back to school; writing seemed to be a common thread that weaved between my many interests. I decided: my future lie in English. From my very first semester at UIC, I also had an interest, or at least a curiosity, in teaching. Teaching has a place as sort of "the family business" among the Hosslers. Both of my parents, and my brother, are in academia; while of my four grandparents, three spent their careers in secondary education. It seemed natural for me to take a pedagogical class—Dr. Todd DeStigter's English 481/Teaching of English at the Secondary Level—during my first semester back in school, as a non-degree Graduate student. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience that planted in me a desire to teach.
Over the course of several semesters of working with high school students, I have grown more and more to appreciate the possibilities of working with young Americans, of varied backgrounds, in the particular areas of literacy and communication. In essence, I have come to believe that, in particular, high school English teachers (and high school humanities and arts teachers generally) are in a unique position to positively influence the future of the American democratic experiment. My experiences in life and school have lead me to believe that people who are effective communicators, in both the written and the spoken forms, are the people who are empowered to achieve their goals in life, and to live interesting, well-rounded existences. These are the people who can affect meaningful and positive change; and view the world with a critical outlook that is both aware of the needs of our rapidly-changing society, and able to pro-actively respond to these serious needs with a sense of self-efficacy. These are the people that can have rich, varied interpersonal relationships, in work environments, among friends, and in their personal and family lives. In short, effective readers, writers, and speakers are the informed movers and shakers in life, and these are the people that a democracy always needs.
My observations and instruction this semester in Dr. Sosa's classes at Juarez have taught me that sharing literacy and language skills with high-schoolers can be a joy, in spite of its many challenges. Working with young adults who are eager to transition into the rights and responsibilities of adulthood in a democracy is a great experience, and it’s in hope of encouraging them to fully participate that I undertake this challenge of teaching.