INTRODUCTION



Hello, everyone! This is a picture of me and my boyfriend, Flippy. No, I won't lie, this is me in Hawaii 2 years ago, and my REAL boyfriend, Hunter, is taller and doesn't have fish breath.

My name is Kathleen MacNeil, I am 26 years old, and I am a native San Diegan. I have an older brother and sister. I got my B.A. in Psychology at USD, and my interests include singing, dancing, theater, reading, tennis, cycling, and traveling. I grew up in Scripps Ranch and went to Miramar Ranch Elementary. Then I moved to Solana Beach when I was 8 and attended Solana Vista, then Skyline Elementary. Then I went across the street to Earl Warren Junior High, and then to Torrey Pines High School.

I started computing around the age of 8, typing stories and poems in Microsoft WordPerfect on our PC. You couldn't see the formatting until you printed it out. Then along came Microsoft Word, and you could see everything on the screen as it should look, or as my dad called it, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). I thought this was very cool. By the time I was in high school, my Dad got a Dell and a newer version of Windows. I took a Dell laptop to college. I used PCs at UCLA, then I transferred to USD. They had both Macs and PCs, and sometimes the PCs were full and I had to use a Mac. It scared me. Now I'm at a job where I have to use a Mac, and I am finally getting over my fear of Macs. I think it's gonna be alright. I depend on technology a lot in my daily life. I use spreadsheets constantly at my job, as an Admin. Assistant at a private school. I send emails, have a MySpace page, upload thousands of pictures, type school assignments (like this one), make travel arrangements, purchase things on Amazon, apply to jobs, look at cute animal pictures, research, chat, etc., etc., etc. So I guess it's pretty important. If it were to go away tomorrow, I don't know what I would do. Go cry, probably.

I think the CSUSM College of Education Mission Statement is very current and progressive. It takes into account the importance of acknowledging diversity and trying to rid education of inequities so that every child has access to quality learning experiences. I think this is very important, for many great minds go to waste because they never received proper education. I also like the idea of "life-long learning," for we should never stop educating ourselves. My dad retired and began learning how to paint. Now he is quite good. So much for "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Honestly, I didn't know the Mission Statement when I applied. I didn't know much about CSUSM except that its College of Education has a good reputation. But I am impressed by the Mission Statement and am proud to be a part of that mission.