In 2005 I enrolled in my first semester of virtual school. I took Biology, Geometry, US History, Language Arts, and, my favorite, Computer Programming. That course, the first real exposure I had to code, set me on the path to where I am today.
A few semesters later, I was back for more, taking the brand new AP CS course. It brought with it my first experiences of two things: peer to peer mentorship and web conferencing collaboration (through a software called Elluminate). They both filled a gap for me as a young student used to working completely alone.
In college I continued to study computing and continued to practice my skills in collaboration and education, acting as a TA for the intro classes. For a few months I even considered adding an education major to get into teaching officially. Instead, I scratched that itch by leading after school coding clubs.
For a few years at the start of my career, my desire to teach was sidelined by my own intense learning. But soon I was given the trust by my team to help with training new developers, a skill I have been honing over the years. It has given me the opportunity to continue my own technical growth while still getting the fulfillment that comes from sharing knowledge and growing the abilities of another. Not a “real” teacher, but teaching nonetheless.
With my new role at Outschool I feel like I’m coming full circle. Back to virtual learning and tech centric education. Back to the dream of disrupting the traditional model of what school can look like. Back to learning every day. Back to my roots.
And it feels like coming home.