My name is Marisa Jorgensen, and I am a third year Education Sciences major with an English minor. I was born in San Mateo, CA (bay area), but I moved and lived on the borderline of Sacramento and Elk Grove, CA since I was 5. I lived in the Sacramento zip code area but went to school in the Elk Grove school district, so I had a mix of environments, since Elk Grove was more of a suburban/farm town while Sacramento was more urban mixed with city. Ever since 10th grade, my dream has been to become an ESL teacher, and I’m planning to get a teaching job in South Korea once I graduate from UCI.

 

The people that are important in my life are definitely my family. My parents are ridiculously supportive, they always say I need to find a job I love because they have spent most of their lives trying to do that themselves.  I am the oldest of three, so I have a brother who is 2 years younger and a sister who is 3 years younger. Growing up the oldest was interesting, especially since my brother and sister were pretty close in age; when they were younger people actually thought they were twins. When I was younger I didn’t really like being the oldest, I had to go through everything first and at times that was really scary. But now I like it a lot more because my siblings ask me advice for things or ask how to do something, and I appreciate the experiences I had because now I can help them get through it and help them avoid some of the mistakes I made.
 

My dad has been a rampserviceman for an airline for almost 25 years, and has been to hell and back because of that company. He’s worked so hard to provide for our family, working graveyard when we were younger so he could see us when we finished school each day, working early morning shifts that last until the afternoon, having to pick up extra night jobs like a school janitor when money was short… he’s done a lot and dealt with a lot for our family and I am forever grateful and proud of him.
 

My mom went back to school when she was in her 40’s, which is actually really hard to do at that age. Before she worked a bunch of odds jobs ranging from Candle sales lady, a bar code scanner at drugstores, and then she got into working with children with disabilities. Sometimes she had to bring us along to all these jobs, so I have a lot of memories from when this all happened. Then she worked as a substitute and assistant teacher in classrooms of students with autism, and she went to school to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant. She loves the kids she gets to work with, and I think she has finally found the job that suits her the best. Just recently she graduated from her OTA program, and though I wasn’t able to be there, I am extremely, extremely proud of my mom for going back to school and getting a degree and certificate, as I know it definitely was not easy for her.
 

My group of friends from junior high school have been friends for 7 years now, and they are my support system back home. We survived high school together and have so many fond and terrible memories from that experience. Now that we’re in college and two of us live in SoCal now we don’t see each other as often, but we always make time for each other during breaks to catch up and hang out, just like old times. I always miss them, but I know they’re just one call or text away.

 

 

There are three important places in my life. The first is my hometown, where I lived in the same house since I was 5 and went to the elementary, junior high, and high school that were all right next to each other (my junior high and high school were literally separated by the library that we shared). I wouldn’t change where I grew up for anything because it shaped who I am today. I don’t think I would be as open or aware of certain issues and things within our society had I grown up somewhere else. I was, however, in the same place for 13 years of my life, so I wanted to get out and see more, and be in a different environment.
 

This is a big reason why I chose to come to UCI, the second important place in my life. It has become my second home, and it’s been crazy how fast my time here has gone. I’ve learned a lot about myself coming here, made amazing friends, discovered what I enjoyed learning about, and found that college is way more than I expected it to be, in the best way possible (for the most part). I also found an amazing job here, I work as a General Assistant at the Extension International Housing office, and my bosses and co-workers are great as well as the international students I get to assist.
 

My third important place in my life is South Korea. In Fall 2014, I studied abroad in South Korea for a quarter, and that experience was pretty much indescribable. The 4 months I was there went by so fast, but I was able to go to a lot of places, meet a lot of friends I am still in contact with, and learn a whole lot about myself in the process. I really, really loved living there, and so I’m excited to graduate from UCI and find a job as an ESL teacher there. I was able to have the opportunity to volunteer as an English teacher for a childcare center near my university, where I taught adorable 5 year olds fun English lessons once a week. Because of that experience, I’m highly considering teaching at a preschool, I enjoyed it so much.