Self Assessment of Personal Diverse Experiences by Christina Trovato

        As I began assessing my experiences with individuals from diverse cultures and our minority groups, it was a big eye-opener. Ever since my early years as a child I have had a desire to teach my knowledge to others as well as learn from them. My young sisters played an influential part throughout my elementary school years. I often proudly presented them with concepts I was learning in school. Reflecting back on my neighborhood as a child, family origin and elementary school, I did not have many experiences with people from diverse cultures and minority groups. The students in my school were almost all white and many of the students with special needs were self-contained in a classroom. The classroom was all the way at the end of the hall, almost isolated from other classrooms. This limited opportunity to gain experience from students with special needs. The area my family lived in mainly were all people of similar socioeconomic status. My assessment as a young child consisted of mainly 3's - very little exposure to diversity.

       As the questions shifted in the assessment to my experiences as an older student my numbers went up...a little. I could say my middle and high school experience is around an 8. I recall working with peers who had unique learning needs who were a part of some of my classes. I also had moved around this time with my family into a new house. The neighborhood is quiet and within the same socioeconomic status as our old one but there is something different. One of our neighbors is a older man with downs syndrome. I often chat with him when he is outside and he tells me about his job, very friendly neighbor. 

         As an adult my diversity exposure has made a great leap. The one ten I circled was for, current work experiences. I currently work as a Grad Assistant on campus at the day care. I teach art to a group of 10 Kindergartners, Substitute teach in Hilton and work as a sales associate at Sears. All these jobs allow me to gain the opportunity of working with several different people of gender, race, socioeconomic status, culture, people with disabilities and so on. After answering all the questions my assessment fell under the category of slightly multicultural. I believe this is an accurate placement of where I am right now.

         The amount of contact I have had with individuals with disabilities has fallen under S for sometimes having contact. My Os for the often has been, study about in school, read stories about, attend school with and see on television. Again another eye-opener in my self assessment because many of my Sometimes having contact were stretching it.

           It would be very hard for me to survive in poverty. 3 out of 15 of those poverty questions I was able to circle and of those 3 I cannot say I circled them confidently. As a teacher, it is important to understand each student's background such as poverty issues because without meeting their basic needs learning cannot happen.