Personal Advocacy Reflection

Personal Advocacy Reflection

How have I, or someone close to me been impacted by the advocacy of someone else?

To be quite frank, I believe my number one advocates were my parents.  From a young age they encourage all of their children to dream big, reach for the sky, and never to give up but to “grow up” intellectually.  I have a late birthday and they had to advocate for me to start school early because they were aware of my capabilities.  As a result, I got to start first grade even though I didn’t meet the age criteria.  I excelled in school!  They continue to advocate for me throughout my life in a way that inspired my love for children.  My family was one of such support that I have always wanted to share the love I have with other children, especially those who lack affection in their lives.

Then I begin to think socially:

The Women Movement granted me a slew of rights that give me the option to keep fighting to lessen sexism.  The Civil Rights Movement fought to grant Blacks better standing in social America.  As a result, I don’t have to sit in the back of the bus, or be told to that “this is a White only establishment”. 

Professionally:

My bosses and supervisors advocate for me because they require me to attend two national conferences every year to gather new ideas and skills that will help to better serve my teachers.  I advocate for my teachers to my boss because she has never been in an early childhood classroom thus can have trouble empathizing with classroom issues.  I advocated for my families and program after completing my diversity class at Walden because there were some practices that were not culturally competent. 

Advocacy efforts are all around us and more often than not they benefit not just one person but a number of them.