My Supports

I have many supports within my daily environment. The benefits of having these support systems around me on a daily basis is knowing that I have protection and a close bond of individuals that can help me through whatever I need; whether it be with financial assistance, word of advice, or for someone to run an errand for me. I know that having support makes a person do and feel better about their life and situation. It is so hard for me to imagine not having these support systems in my life. My brothers and sisters help me with just daily everyday things and having family in a new town really makes me feel not alone. Also within that category would be my boyfriend of 6 years, who also is a huge support for me, as he is also family to me and helps me with everything from love, advice, studying; you name it, he is there. My father is such a huge support for me because he helps me not just with being my dad, but he makes me stronger for him. My father has always been my male hero, and he makes be believe that there are great male figures out here for young children to look up to. I have the honor to still have this huge role model in my life. My father gives me wisdom of situations that I may not know about that he has been through. My close friends are a huge support because of the bonds and relationships we have. 

With moving to a new state, I have to meet new people, and that can be a challenge. The impact these supports have on my life if there were not there anymore is super significant. It is hard to imagine what I would do and how I could find strength to continue my life the way I live it now. I would have to find strength if my brothers were not close or if I were to not have my boyfriend around. They help me with my day to day process; from relationship building to running errands that I can not because of work related issues to advice, and just comfortability that no matter what, these individuals are there to help me be better and to do better. If I were to loose my father, that would completely break my heart because I already lost a person who was one of my biggest advocates a couple years ago, which is my mother. My father is in stage for prostate cancer, and this scares me daily. He is such a huge impact on my morality and ethical ways of thinking. I love my father to no end, and not having his support in my daily life would be hard and un-imaginable. I would have to learn to find my own support within myself and from others, if I did not have my supports in my daily environment.

Having support is such an important aspect of living and learning. When you have to sit back and really think about what life would be like without it is hard. There are individuals without support. If children can get the proper support early on with teachers and parents, they can grow up knowing that they can find support in others and learn to cope and gain support needed if the time presents itself. That is my basic approach if I were to loose my supports.

My Connections to Play

 The quotes I feel summarized what play represented for me in my childhood is one by Herculatus and Fragments and Plato:

“Time is a game played beautifully by children.”

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

I feel these represent me because time goes by so fast, and when children play, and when I was a child and I played, playing becomes more and more sophisticated as I aged and time became measured by how much I played and what I did during play. As an educator of young children, I see time by watching children grow and play. You also can learn about a person socially and emotionally just by how they play and what they chose to play with. I was that child where you could see what I was playing with to learn so much about my likes and dislikes; just like I can see with young children around me in the classroom.

 

When I was a child, things like bike riding and using a bucket, yes, a bucket, was so fun to me because when riding a bike I can challenge myself physically and socially be with friends, and with my bucket, I could do all kinds of things that my imagination allowed for me to do, like collect 4 leaf clovers, or collect flowers and rocks, an make mud pies with my friends.  Play was supported around me by saying to go out and play and explore. It was healthy to get all of that curious energy out and play amongst peers and myself. When I was in school, recess and gym were mandatory for children to be able to play and release energy and get exercise. Now a days with play, it is more systematic in my opinion; like it has to be mapped out more and not just spontaneous and fun and messy. I do like that now it seems play is seen as important and part of curriculum, I just want to see more of it be more child directed than teacher directed. Children learn best about themselves and their environment by playing out how they see reality. Schools now seem to not have recess or PE be a mandatory thing as it was for me in school. I just hope that in the future, schools can get back to having children play, and let them be messy and explore with some boundaries, and not fully take away from the learning experience play has to offer.

Play is essential not just for children, but for adults. I still love to do things that are carefree where I can re-discover and learn through play. Play for me can be simple as games with my friends, or doing things that children once did, like run and play hide and seek, or travel. Playing in my childhood has taught me to always be open to exploring and learning more about my environment, and never to be afraid to try something new. I have taken that same train of though into my adulthood.