No bloody keys,
Or eggs to drop.
Or birds to warn when to stop.

Hi my name is Natessa Burrone, but I go by Tessa. I am originally from Durham where I grew up until 8^th grade when my whole family picked up and moved to the very top of the state, to a town with a population of 600, called Etna. I absolutely love where I am from, the ranching lifestyle and way of life has been a great fit for me. My ultimate goal would be to someday move back to my hometown and be a 2^nd grade teacher. All through my younger years in school I was considered the “teachers pet” because that was my passion. I have always wanted to help my teacher and/ or run the show. I love the organization skills it takes, I love being around kids and the feeling I get when I get to help kids learn new things. It is career that I am passionate about and am excited to start. I am also very passionate about running cattle and I have about 400 mother cows now, being a teacher will allow me to follow both my dreams and succeed in both which I am very excited to take full advantage of. Growing up I was a daddy’s girl and wanted nothing more then to please him with everything I did. He said he wanted all A’s so I worked hard and did just that. As I grew up though my mom and I started to get a lot closer and during the middle of our move my mom, my role model, my backbone, my biggest supporter, and the one that was there for me through high and low was diagnosed with breast cancer. The five-year battle we struggled through, as a family was the hardest thing I hope I ever have to face in my lifetime.  It wasn’t until she beat the breast cancer once and brain cancer twice that spine cancer finally took her life November 13, 2012. This was by far the worse day of my life. Since then I have done what I can to get by on a daily basis, helping raise my two younger sisters, run my cows and balance school has been very difficult, but a challenge none the less and I have never been one to be a quitter so I am sticking it out.

As far as reading outside of class the only reading I do on a daily basis is out of my bible and daily devotional. Reading is something I have always really struggle with so I usually just avoid it all together. The reading I do in school and out of school are usually very different. The readings I do in class are very hard for me to follow. I easily get lost and confused with most readings I do for school and in school. I can read something 5 times through and still only be able to tell you how much I miss my mom or the list of ten thousand things I have to get done by the end of it. Ever since I lost my mom reading has become a lot harder for me and I am very nervous for this semester because a lot of my classes have multiple books that I have to keep up with, which can be very hard for me.

I read this article in Eng 333 as well with Sarah Pape. The Williams article made me open my eyes to the type of student I am and the type of teacher I want to be later. My role as a student is a lot like a rancher and his cattle. I am a very hands on person and I learn best by being actively involved. I struggle in classes where I can’t visualize the material. So as a teacher I think they are like a rancher and as a student I see us as the cattle that are herded, and guided, but ultimately left to do it on their own. As a student I feel like it is my responsibility to put out the effort and work hard to understand the material the teacher is covering. As a student that wants to become a teacher I have been working extra hard to be the type of student that I would want in my classroom in the future. I think the solution they came up with would be to focus more on the generation that is in front of you and give them everything you can offer. Don’t dwell on the past, but better the future.

“The identities we take on have a direct impact on how students respond to us and to the material and assignments we are trying to teach.”