ALL ABOUT CANDEE EDGAR EDU692: Creativity Culture and Global Contexts in Education Decision Making (MRZ1444B) Instructor Robert Voekel October 29, 2014

My Background Hi Everyone! My name is Candee Edgar I am a 29 year old (hitting 30 soon) Female from Southeast Texas who has resided in Los Angeles Ca since I was 19 years old. My Background is wildly different from my present. I have actually adopted a new culture because I married into it and I want my 5 year old son to be a part of his dad’s culture. The language, the religion, the traditions, the characteristics and most importantly the food!!!!

Demographics and Education History from High Island, Texas  Small town with population of around 450  Single mom, also an educator, of three kids. (Me being the youngest)  Lower Middle class  Poverty stricken town  Attended K-12 Public School “I grew up as the smallest of a family of three to a single mom, also an educator, middle class in a very small town in Southeast Texas with a population of only around 400 people. My mom is from French descent and my biological father was adopted. I’d have to say that my family structure was a tad dysfunctional. Hey whose family doesn’t have problems though?! There was a K – 12 grade public school in my town (the only school that 3 different towns attended) and socioeconomically the area is a little poverty stricken. My mom happened to be middle class but most of my friends weren’t. I attended school all 13 years at the same place having my mom as my teacher 4 times throughout those years.”

My Diagnosis….. When I was 12 I was diagnosed with something called a cavernous angioma of the brainstem and it had to be resected as I had lost the ability to use my motor skills. It was during the next year of living in the hospital and then a rehab Facility in Houston Texas that I changed my perspective on my life and my brain kicked in to overdrive. All of a sudden I felt that anything was possible. Before this moment I never wanted to move away from home and didn’t have very outrageous dreams and expectations of myself. Now I wanted to get to the age of 18 and move to Los Angeles to become an actress. This disability didn’t ever hindered me it has only pushed me farther than I would ever imagine.

Chase Your Dreams… I went through the next 5 years with a few problems after the surgery. A stroke when I was 18 set me back from moving to Los Angeles for another year. When I got here I attended acting school and finished and realized I loved it here but that just wasn’t the profession for me. I fell into the fitness industry managing gyms and then I met my husband and had my son.

My Family…

My husband is from the country of Armenia, and has a very big family as well as they all speak another language and all live here in Los Angeles. I have learned to be a true Armenian wife. I can cook traditional Armenian food, speak and understand most Armenian, and treat my husband just as an Armenian girl is taught to do. As I embarked on a new life with him and my son was born, shortly after I had another hemorrhage that required me to have to have another brain surgery. When my son was 6 months I went into the hospital once again. This time I didn’t fully bounce back. I don’t have full use of my right side and am now left hand but thank god every day that I am here.

My Hobbies  Traveling!  We are all foodies!  Exercising! (Mostly Spinning)  Family!  Learning!

I have quit working but the past few years I have felt really great so I decided to return to school to get my Masters in education and hopefully as my son gets a little older and things get a little calmer I can return to the profession of Education. My son really showed me a true passion for teaching that must run in my blood! I have been inspired since he was born to teach him everything I know. The fact that he grew up learning two languages inspired me to focus my Bachelors degree that I earned from Ashford in English as a second Language. I aspire to teach 3 rd or 4 th grade. Not only do I have a passion for teaching but I have a passion for learning. I am a lifelong learner and wouldn’t change that for the world. I look forward to spending the next 6 weeks with you all!!