Yue Su
San Jose State University
I always ask myself why I have the courage to chose Child and Adolescent Development as my major. The reason I am questioning myself because everybody around me, especially the international student who like me, they all chose business as their major, it is true that business really is a well-rounded major, also there is no doubt that business is happened anywhere and anyplace. So the reality is pushing them to believed that choosing a popular major is absolutely worth to learn no matter they like the major or not.But for me, drift with others without thinking which is not my life style. And one day, when I was taking classes from business major, there was an uncomfortable and frustrated feeling throughout inside my body and my mind, in the meanwhile, I checked all the majors on the list, suddenly, I found child development. In my first thought, I have no idea what is it child development, but the word “child” catch my eyes because I like to play with children, I love children and love the way they learn, talk and play. Just because I love children, so I decided to follow my heart.
I remember that my favorite thing to play when I was a child that was ‘school’ role play. I had a classroom set up in my room with desks, a chalkboard, and even real school books, grade books and homework assignment, I used to call my buddies to come to my house and we would spend hours in the our “classroom”, I was grading papers, making up assignments and teaching them. In high school, I got a summer part-time job at a daycare, but I didn't like it very much. I was working with preschool kids, and my job just need to sit there and help them to do their homework. This made me question myself what is my desire to teach and I could not stand with Chinese education system. In my opinion, Chinese education system is not suitable for a child grow up. In this education system, children would learn everything without creation, children from preschool to college, a system of examinations almost occupy their time, for me as an example, if someone ask me “do you still remember the knowledge you learned from school?”, I would say: “No, I do not, except as the skill about how to do the exams.” It means this system is not set-up with children’s best interesting in mind. After high school, I started my college in Unite Sate, from the beginning of my college years, I tried design and business as my major, but I felt nothing rewarding to me and nothing could satisfy me. My parents kept telling me that I would try to be a teacher which she knows me that I love children and I have a chance to learn about the Unite State system for preschool kids.
Finally, I gave myself a challenge that I switched my major. For the first time in my life I felt like I was on the right track and doing the right thing. I have a lot of passion for going to classes and care about getting my degree. I planed to transfer to San Jose State University because I know here has the more I need, the gold I want to achieve which just like fit to the learning outcomes “demonstrate communication and interpersonal skills for facilitating the development of children and adolescents and meeting the challenges of working with other professionals; understand ethical and advocacy responsibilities in working with and on behalf of children and adolescents.”(CHAD,planB) This outcome fit into my thought and I think which is important for me in the future because this summer vocation, I did an observation in a preschool in Beijing, China. This preschool is establishing based on Montessori system from Unite state. However, in order to meet the parents of psychology, who are supporting the traditional education system but want their children try a foreign education system, are becoming a