Running head: ABE ESSAY OF JIM RIFE 1

Autobiographical Essay of Jim Rife

James A. Rife

College of Southern Idaho

EDUC 201

Professor Shane Brown

March 28, 2019

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Autobiographical Essay of Jim Rife My name is James Rife, my goal is to finish my

college education and become a high school math teacher and football coach. I have always had

the dream to be a teacher, but circumstances caused that goal to be put on hold for the last

twenty-five years. With a new passion for finishing my original goal I am returning to college to

pursue my degree.

Educational Background

My education began at the Valley School District in the small town of Eden, Idaho. I

attended kindergarten through third grade at Eden Elementary School. Then moved my

curriculum to Hazelton Elementary School for grades fourth through sixth. Finally, I ended with

Valley Jr./Sr. High School from seventh grade through graduation. Upon graduating, I enrolled

at the University of Montana at Western for one year and then transferred to Idaho State

University for one semester.

Life sort of happened after that. For the next twenty-five years I have been in the work

force at a job in sales. I enjoy what I do for a living but have always had the desire to teach and

coach at the high school level. About one year ago, I decided to go back to college to achieve

this goal. For the last year, I have been attending classes at the College of Southern Idaho. I am

currently about fifteen credits short of obtaining my associates degree and my plan for finishing

my bachelor’s degree at Idaho State University.

About ten years ago, I received the opportunity to coach a local high school football

team. This has been the driving force for me wanting to finish my degree and begin teaching.

The everyday interaction with the young students on my team have made me realize that this is

what I have always wanted to do with my life.

Work History
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Right out of high school I attended college for three semesters and then ended up

entering the work force. As a twenty-year-old, I began my career in the construction business for

a company called Eureka Construction. I really enjoyed the work and being able to constantly

be outside. I was always moving around from job to job making the work much more enjoyable.

However, being at a construction job meant the work was always permitting the weather. After

two years, this made me start to look for a new job that was less seasonal.

After leaving the construction trade, I found a job working for Pepsi Cola Bottling

Company. This was another job that I enjoyed. I was a delivery driver and eventually a route

salesman. The everyday interaction with people of various backgrounds made the work more

interesting. After about five years, I received an offer to go to work for another local distributing

company.

Watkins Distributing is the local Budweiser distributor in the Magic Valley. I have been

employed with this company for almost nineteen years. I have to say that working for Watkins

has been fantastic, I started as a delivery driver for about five years, then moved into a

management position that I still enjoy doing to this day. The owners and management of

Watkins are some of the best people that I have ever been associated with and will consider them

friends for the rest of my life.

Service/Extra-Curricular Activities

During high school, I participated in just about every sport and club that my high school

had to offer. Being from a small school, there were not a lot of activities at that time. But I

participated in football, baseball, basketball, track, golf, FFA, and band. I also spent time my

senior year helping with elementary physical education at the local grade school.
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Upon graduation, I spent my free time coaching various youth sports such as, basketball

and baseball. For the next few years my extra-curricular activities took a back seat to my work.

About ten years ago, I received an opportunity to volunteer my time coaching a local high school

football team. That opportunity developed into a full-time coaching position with the school.

This helped in presenting me with the chance to help coach junior varsity basketball for four

years, until I decided to go back to college and finish my teaching degree. Now the only sport

that I am still actively coaching, is the varsity football program. I am now the head coach. The

experience of working with these young adults it what is driving me to finish my teaching

degree.

Why Teach?

The first time that I can remember wanting to become a teacher was while I was still in

junior high school. One of my teachers, who was also my second-grade teacher, was my student

advisor when I was in eighth grade. He had a great influence on me wanting to become a teacher

and a coach. After graduation, I attended college for two years, with the goal in mind to start my

career as an educator. During my second year of college my mother passed away, this caused me

to veer down a different path resulting in my lack of interest in school for a while.

For the last twenty-five years I have had a job in sales. While this has been a great career

for me and my family, the drive to be a high school math teacher and a coach has always been

there. The rewards that I have noticed are seeing a young person accomplish goals that they had

no idea they could accomplish is what drives me to finish my degree and see that they can

accomplish anything that they set their mind to, is achievable. Whether it be in the classroom or

in athletic competition.
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Twenty-five years ago, I know that I lost my way for a while. Hopefully I can inspire a

student to continue their education, by sharing with them what I have gone through.

Goals

The main goal, for myself that I can see going forward is to complete the rest of the

courses that I need to earn my degree and become a high school math teacher. While my goal

when I returned to college was just to finish my degree, I now am striving to complete the rest of

my courses with at least a 3.5 GPA. While it has not come easy so far, I am accomplishing that

goal.

The long-term goal for becoming a teacher is to hopefully instill the drive in my students

to complete their college education. While it took me awhile for me to decide to continue my

education, it was a teacher from my junior high school days that started me with the passion to

become and educator. If I can pass that desire on to one student in the future, I will say that I

have accomplished my goals.

Conclusion

I am hopeful that my experiences of being in the work-force as a high school graduate

compared to that of a profession requiring a college degree is something that I can pass on to my

future students. While attending college may not be for every person that graduates high school,

I believe a lot of students are not quite sure what to expect from either side of the argument. I

believe that if I can guide students to make an informed decision, about their future, then that is a

goal I will strive for every day.