Students can look back on their years in school and pinpoint one particular course or one particular teacher that was most instrumental in shaping their lives. Reflect on your own school years and focus on one such instructor or course. Describe the conditions or qualities that made that particular experience or teacher special.

Reflecting back on my educational experiences, the one that was instrumental in shaping my life was the fieldwork I did in an exceptional classroom. Ten years ago, I was a junior college student, and I enrolled in a Behaviour Psychology class. Part of the class requirement was to complete a fieldwork assignment in an exceptional classroom. Little did I know how this experience would shape my life. On a cold wintery day, at the start of winter quarter I began my fieldwork as a behavioural aide at a school for exceptional children. As I anxiously walked in the doorway of the classroom, I remembered the professor’s words: “We should look beyond the label, we need to focus on the student’s ability and not the disability. ” His words encouraged my steps. I entered the classroom, which was composed of students with autism. That day, a new student with a label “autism” on his shirt entered the classroom, his name was Jason. Jason was a young boy with many unusual behaviours, for example, he did not respond to his name, and did not show appropriate eye contact. Furthermore, he had unusual tantrum behaviour and did not show affection to other people. He seemed to live in his own world. For the next two weeks, I spent most of my time teaching and playing with him. Although he did not use verbal language to communicate with me, Jason and I had developed a positive rapport. Which led to Jason sharing his favourite items with me, such as a stuffed animal and his cookie. More importantly, Jason responded to his name with appropriate eye contact. At that moment, I realized the true meaning behind the professor’s words “look beyond the label. ” On the first day of school after Christmas break, I entered the classroom and noticed someone was missing. I did not see Jason. The teacher informed me that Jason was transferred to a non-public school. The last six weeks of my fieldwork were not the same due to the absence of Jason from the classroom. I missed working with Jason and seeing his improvements. In conclusion, the Behaviour Psychology fieldwork experience of working with exceptional children was instrumental in my career choice. I had never thought about working with this population, yet my time spent teaching Jason inspired my career plan. Today, I am working to become a special education teacher with the dream to make a difference in my students’ lives.