Kimberly’s Introduction

            My name is Kimberly Knudsen and I’ve lived in California my whole life! I was born in Oceanside California, but at the age of 4 I moved to the small historical town of Julian located in the San Diego Mountains.  Not many people have heard of Julian, or are even aware that San Diego has mountains, and yet hundreds of tourists travel up the mountain each day in search of snow or apple pie.  Growing up in Julian was somewhat of a fairy tale. With the exception of dons market, an extremely small and overpriced general store, the closest grocery store was 30 minutes away, and any form of entertainment was at least an hour drive.  The first school I attended was Spencer Valley, the last one room school house in California.  This school was very artsy and not very conventional, and at the end of first grade my parents had had enough and transferred me to Julian Elementary.  I remained in the Julian Unified school district through High School, and by this time I knew just about everyone, and everything about them.  There were no secrets at Julian High School as it consisted of just about 200 students.  In 2007 I graduated with a class of 47, and moved to Fresno California to attend Fresno State University.  (Talk about a culture shock!) Here I became a member of Delta Zeta Sorority, and gained my degree in liberal studies after only 3.5 years, this past Dec.  I then moved back to San Diego, and am currently living in Carlsbad and plan to obtain my teaching credential through San Marcos at the end of next spring. 

            While I would by no measures consider myself gifted in technology, I believe I have substantial knowledge of technology basics.  I have had a laptop since my sophomore year in high school, and took the basic mandatory computer classes starting in 7^th grade with PowerPoint, to keyboard in 9^th grade.  At Fresno State I was required to take two technology/computer classes, and therefore while I personally own a PC, I am fairly familiar with Mac’s applications and word processors.  These classes covered everything from word to excel, to creating our own personal websites.  However, I still feel I have a long way to go!

            As I am at CSUSM specifically as a College of Education student, the mission statement is very important to me.  With my credential interview coming up this semester, I understand the importance of the mission statement to the school, in there efforts to prepare qualified teachers for our diverse communities.  When I read this statement I think about my college education thus far, and the importance of knowing your students and being a dynamic and reflective teacher, in order to supply our youth with unlimited opportunities.