About Me:
Welcome to my online portfolio! My name is Courtney Hallam and I am currently a sophomore at Coastal Carolina University. I am originally from central New Jersey (New Egypt) and currently live in South Carolina. I am majoring in Special Education, minoring in French, and I am in the HTC Honors College. After earning my Bachelor's degree, I plan on attending graduate school.
Once I graduate with my Master's degree, I am going to look for a job as a Special Education teacher in either South Carolina or New Jersey. I am not entirely sure where I plan to live after graduation. While working, I would like to take classes simultaneously to earn my Doctorate. I love Special Education as I have grown up with different family members with both intellectual and learning disabilities. I am very excited about what my future at CCU holds, and I cannot wait have my own classroom! |
Why Special Education?
When applying for colleges, I had the mentality that I would graduate with a medical degree. However, in high school I had to choose a place to job-shadow. Only two students could go to the local pharmacy and both places were taken. I had to think of something else, so I decided maybe I would try teaching. I have been told my entire life that children love me and that I would be a great teacher (because of my "patience, empathy, and laid back personality," so my mom tells me). I decided to job-shadow a Special Education teacher. My teacher asked me, "Why do you want to work with students with special needs?" The answer was easy to think of, for me.
I grew up with two cousins that have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One cousin, on my mom's side, was always made fun of by people because they did not understand. They thought he was "weird," which is absolutely false. These comments always bothered me and I could tell that it hurt his feelings, as well. He is incredibly smart when it comes to anything about the military, it is fascinating. My other cousin, on my dad's side, has severe autism and he is mute. He was always treated like everyone else and rarely had meltdowns around family members. He was never treated like he had a disability, which is something that I always try to practice with people with disabilities. The cousin on my mom's side, was made fun of by our other cousins. They called him names and I was quick to come to his defense. My best friends are fraternal twins and one has severe learning disabilities and a slight intellectual disability. Working with him and hanging out with him has taught me to be more accepting and patient. My cousins, and friend, have made me want to help students with disabilities. They have given me experience in working with people with special needs and they helped me find something that I am extremely passionate about! |
Why Coastal Carolina University?
I wanted to go to CCU because when I toured the campus, in May 2016, as a sophomore in high school, I remember the student giving the tour saying that the Spadoni College of Education was an amazing program that would allow me to teach in any state in the U.S. (This also influenced my decision to become a teacher!) I chose CCU because everyone that I met that either went there or was going there, LOVED it! Every single person I talked to only had positive things to say about it. Seeing that students loved it made it easy for me to enroll in 2018.
I wanted to be at a small-feeling school where classes are not too large and where the professors could give attention to each student, CCU delivers! I also liked the fact that the campus was so clean and it was beautiful, which made me like it even more. Now that I attend CCU, I can confidently say, I made a great choice! I love being a Chanticleer, the professors are amazing people and really care about the students, and getting involved is so easy! Go Chants! |
Every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her." -Urie Bronfenbrenner