How I Found My Groove in Teaching Students with Special Needs

My name is Nikki Campbell. Serving students and families inspired me to pursue a career in teaching. It feels right to teach, to give and to help.  I arrived to this conclusion incidentally.  Becoming a teacher was after I had considered and tried other professions, and it was one of the best decisions I have made. 

In college, I wasn’t sure of what to study. I was given scholarships to attend USC, including an art scholarship so naturally, I started off as an art major. Immediately in my first semester, I realized I could not support my family as an artist. As an immigrant, the first to attend college, and the responsibility to care for my younger brothers as I was their legal guardian (long story), I felt the pressure to choose a profession that was practical. I chose accounting. However in my last semester of college, myself along with my peers were being recruited by Big Six Accounting Firms, and in the process I realize that I did not fit in with the crowd. In the field of accounting, the professionals were mostly introverts and very conservative, at least in comparison to me. I have a flamboyant and outgoing personality, and my personality would have been stifle in that business environment. Something in me said, I needed to be appreciated for being me.

Nevertheless I graduated with an accounting degree, but I chose to pursue other fields within business, trying one job after another (e.g. business consulting; telecommunications sales). Then, I came upon teaching. I was a substitute teacher to pay my bills and to support my family. At the school setting and in the classroom (elementary schools), I found what felt right. I found my groove! Moreover, I found what I enjoyed most, serving students with the greatest needs, students with special needs.