FALL 2016

FULL NAME: Camille Goodfellow

COMPOSITE DEGREE: Early Child/Spec Ed (B.S.)

Hello, My name is Cami Goodfellow. I am from Portland,

Oregon and I hope to move back there to teach. I am the
youngest of five children, and I have three brothers and one
sister. I also have fourteen nieces and nephews, the oldest
one being seventeen. My major is Early Childhood/Special
Education.
Growing up with nieces and nephews strengthened my love
of children and working with them. So I decided that I
wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I thought I wanted to
teach general elementary education and that was my goal
growing up. During high school I had the amazing
opportunity to work with some children with special needs. I
could see that it took a lot of patience to work with them, but I soon realized how
rewarding it was for me to work with them. That is when I decided to major in Early
Childhood/Special Education. I have always loved working with children, and especially
working with children who have special needs.
When I got to college I went to a meeting about the Early Childhood/Special Education
major. At that meeting I learned that I could also become an early interventionist or
developmental therapist with my major. This intrigued me because I had only ever
thought about teaching, so I just forgot about it. Then, I took a class that focused a lot of
the field of early intervention, and it made me more interested in that field. I am very
excited to teach, but I also thing early intervention would be an interesting and rewarding
field to be in.
Growing up, I also had, and still have, a strong love of music. I think music is an important
tool to use in the classroom or with children with special needs. I am a strong believer in
the power music can have in the life of a child. Music can be used to help children stay
engaged in activities and learn as much as they can.
Another interest I have is in American Sign Language. I have a second cousin who is
deaf and he has told me a lot about the culture. In middle school and high school, I had a
friend who was deaf, and he taught me some sign language, which really interested me. I
decided then that I wanted to learn more so I would be able to communicate better with
him. Then when I went to college, one of my neighbors was deaf and I became friends
with her. Knowing sign language helped me to communicate with her, which is something
I hope to keep with me for the rest of my life. Sign language can also help children with
other disabilities to communicate when they are non-verbal. That makes sign language so
much more important to me.