Intro Letter of Helene Penny-McKean

My name is Helene and I was born in Washington, D.C. I grew up in Arlington and then Springfield, Virginia. I went to Hunt Valley Elementary, Washington Irving Junior High School and graduated from West Springfield High School. I spent one year at the University of Miami, Florida. South Florida was very different from the conservative area where I grew up. After my freshman year, I dropped out of college and went back to Virginia where I began working as a Clerk/Typist for the Navy Department. Knowing only that I wanted to travel, I eventually transferred over to the State Department. I joined the U.S. Foreign Service and served for two years at our embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia working as a secretary in the political section. I married a U.S. Marine who had been stationed at the embassy in Belgrade and left the Foreign Service after my tour in Belgrade was over. I joined him in 29 Palms, California. We were fortunate to be able to stay in California throughout the rest of my husband's career with the USMC. After attending numerous colleges and universities, I brought it all together and graduated from San Diego State with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. This 422 class is the last I need to take to apply to the teaching credential program at CSUSM. I have one son who is 7 years old and we did have our two English Bulldogs, who unfortunately died just 10 days apart last month. I miss them so much.

I believe I have a fair amount of technology experience. I used to spend 8 hours a day in front of a PC when I worked for Jack in the Box headquarters in Kearny Mesa. I e-mailed, used the Internet, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word and Excel, Powerpoint and other programs related to my job. Since leaving that job 6 years ago, my time in front of our home PC is limited to a few times a week. Our Microsoft Windows and Office programs are 2003. I do all travel arrangements and quite a bit of shopping and research on the Internet. However, I still prefer speaking to someone on the phone rather than e-mailing them. Unfortunately, I have had numerous experiences with misunderstandings between people and how e-mails are interpreted. In my current job at Ocean Shores High School, I am a tutor for a pilot reading program, so I do not use their computers at all. Although, I did notice they use MACs. I am surprisingly fascinated by the MACs in our class and am looking forward to learning more.

The mission statement of CSUSM had no impact on my choosing CSUSM. This school has a great reputation for the teaching credential program and I know a number of people who have left California with that credential and have had no problems getting teaching jobs all over the country. A school committed to diversity and educational equity is expected in my view. I love the idea of reflective teaching, life-long learning and ongoing service. I did not finally receive my bachelor's until I was 32 and here I am again back at school for another career change. Learning should be ongoing for life as well as service to our community. I am already learning in this class and I believe I will enjoy it.