About Me:
My name is Nikkee Johnson and I am a UCF knight with a B.S. in Elementary Education. Before studying at the University of Central Florida, I studied at many other schools. There were two elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools to be exact. I had moved around the country a great number of times due to my father’s job. As such, I was able to experience all types of education styles in six different states. I believe the knowledge that came from observing diverse cultures, as well as from my own personal experiences, will greatly aid me in my ventures into the realm of education.
When I first started college, I was pursuing a degree in accounting with a minor in education. With my family connections, I thought that getting a business type degree would be playing it safe. In adding on a minor in education, I was being even safer by having a backup plan. I thought that if anything would fall through in getting a finance job, I could simply pick up a teaching job- like it would be that easy. I was very much wrong in that aspect. I took my first teaching course and was required to do some service hours in the community. The more hours I served, the more I saw how much hard work it was to teach. As a teacher, you do not just sit in front of the class and lecture, you must interact with the students, make sure they are actually learning, and you have to be able to control the classroom at the same time. I did not know if I could do it. Then one day, a student I was helping with math thanked me and said that she was glad I was there otherwise she would not have understood. It was as if a switch went on in my head and changed my thinking. It felt so good to help one child, how good it must feel to help a whole lot more; maybe I could do this.
I could leave my story at that, but the real tipping point came later when my grandmother passed away. Because I had been moved around so much, my parents provided stability by having me stay with my grandparents every summer. I was very close with them. All my years, I had been told stories about how amazing my grandmother was during her lifetime. On her deathbed, we relived those stories together. It was her dream to become a kindergarten teacher. She did not get to achieve that goal, but she achieved so much more. The most important was her work with the Native Americans. It is too much to explain in one paragraph, but she helped to give them supplies and education in a time of racism. Inspired, I immediately changed my minor to be my major and vowed to reach that goal of becoming a primary teacher, for both myself and for her.
Since then, I have aspired to set myself on the path that would lead me to my ultimate goal of becoming a top-notch educator! I got hired as an art teacher helping young students embrace their creativity. Then, I entered into an internship at two fantastic elementary schools. I have learned so much from these jobs from planning lessons and implementing them to incorporating other subject matters into art. With every passing day, I fall in love with the art of teaching and everything that comes with it.
