My name is Christine Goss and I was born in La Mesa. I attended elementary school from K-2 at Sycamore Canyon Elementary School and then transferred to Carlton Oaks Elementary as part of the GATE program. I then attended West Hills High School and graduated in 2001. After graduation, I started by undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis. I quickly discovered that I wasn’t good at math beyond the Calculus level and that a Biology degree probably wasn’t a great idea for me. I changed to the English department. Then, I moved back home to San Diego to help take care of my ill mother. Nearly five years, a marriage, and a baby later, I returned to school at Cal State San Marcos. After three semesters, I graduated Fall 2009 with my B.A. in Literature and Writing Studies with an emphasis in Literature.
I love technology! I wouldn’t consider myself terribly tech-savy, but I definitely depend on technology a lot. I use my computer to research everything that I am even remotely interested in, to participate in online classes, and to share pictures and videos of my son with our family that is spread around the country. I sometimes doubt that I could live without my phone. I use it to play music to motivate me during distance runs, recently found out how to use the GPS while lost on a 14 mile hike, use it to text far too much, and, of course, make the occasional phone call. My sister’s boyfriend, Matt, is a computer-science type, which has been great because I always have someone to fix the things I inevitably break and I get his tech hand-downs. The flip side of that is that I don’t always learn how to fix tech issues myself because Matt is always around to help out. I switched from a PC to a Mac in September and that has been a great transition. I currently use Word for Mac V.8.
I had not given teaching serious thought until I took a Sociology of Education course at CSUSM. I knew that I was dedicated to social justice and wanted to work in a capacity that helped both individuals and society as a whole, but it wasn’t until this course pointed out to me the inequities in education and the drastic changes that needed to be made that I started thinking of myself as a future educator. The “Mission Statement” of the College of Education at CSUSM addresses the fact that future educators need to see themselves as vehicles of change, stating, “The mission of the College of Education community is to collaboratively transform public education by preparing thoughtful educators and advancing professional practices. We are committed to diversity, educational equity, and social justice.” Although other programs are closer to where I live, my experience with CSUSM is that these words are not just words to the faculty and staff, but rather a way of life.
