Meet Annalisa Falco: Early Childhood Educator!
A delightfully sweet and funny lady, a nurturer and empowered; be still my beating heart!
What is your career?
• I am an Registered Early Childhood Educator.
What are the greatest challenges and greatest rewards of your career?
• The greatest challenges I face in my career are keeping my emotions under control. Working with children can be very rewarding, however, it challenges me to be more patient, compassionate and understanding.
• I would say the greatest reward is developing deep and meaningful relationships with my students. It’s a really nice feeling when some of my kindergarten students accidentally call me mom. It shows how they view me as an important figure in their lives, and it’s so nice they see me as their teacher and caregiver.
What is your advice to others embarking on similar career?
• The best advice I could give to someone who is embarking on a career in education is to be confident in your values and teaching skills. I remember my first year in my classroom I was very intimidated by the whole school atmosphere. Working alongside with another teacher I was very nervous about speaking in front of the whole class and it was very overwhelming for me.
• I believe to be a good educator you have to have patience, compassion and understanding. These values will help make your career and personal life more enriched with love and care. Being a RECE, has made me a better person and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
5 years ago, did you expect to be where you are today? Why or why not?
• Five years ago, I really didn’t expect to be where I am today. For a long time, I battled with depression and I was always confused about my life journey. But it came a point where I was like, “Okay I cannot live like this anymore!” So I started to take long walks, exercise, eat healthier, and go to therapy. But the one thing that really turned my life around was when I started my own gratitude journal. I wrote in it every day and my life progressively improved in all areas of my life. I learned to count my blessings instead of my hardships.
Where will you be in 5 years?
• I’m going back to school this year to get my degree in Early Childhood Education and then I’m planning to go to teacher’s college to get my master’s in education. So in five years I hope to be done school.
• Another goal of mine is to start my own non-profit organization to help empower and educate people about self-acceptance and living a fulfilling life. Within these 5 years I hope to inspire change and to have started a movement to enrich people’s lives through art, music and motivational speaking.
What would you say to your 8-year-old self?
• I would tell my 8-year-old self that she is beautiful and that she is worthy of love and belonging. I would tell her that life is not a race it’s a journey. And most importantly I would tell her to leave the past in the past. To let go of the pain and sorrow, because the only gift we have in life is the present. I would tell her that hope and faith is what will get you through the most challenging times and to surround yourself with people that love and accept you for you who are.
What would you say to your 80-year-old self?
• I would tell my 80-year-old self, “Congratulations, you made it this far, and you don’t look a day over 40!” I would praise her for all the good things she’s done in her life.
How lucky are you and why?
• I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I’ve been blessed with a very supportive and loving family. I have faithful and caring friends. And I’m extra lucky because last year I fell in love with my soul mate and every day is a dream come true because I am loved by my family and friends.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
• I think what I noticed over the years is how people are surprised by my thoughtfulness and generosity. I’m the type of person that surprises people with love letters and small gifts. Also, when people first meet me their surprised by my sense of humour and outgoing personality because at first I’m quite shy and quiet.
What makes you laugh?
• I love to laugh! I try to find humour in everything! I find joy in making silly jokes or random comments. I come from a long history of funny family and friends too. My boyfriend makes me laugh the most because our sense of humour is exactly the same so we’re constantly cracking jokes when we’re together. We probably have a million inside jokes; we’re pretty much that crazy couple at the party!
What is fun for you?
• I have the most fun when I’m spending time with my family, my friends and my dog. Going out for dinners, long conversations, and my job can be very fun because kids really do say the funniest things. I especially love to pretend play with my students, to hear their laughter and see the smile on their faces when I make them laugh is truly priceless.
What makes you question humanity?
• I think it is so interesting how technology has enriched but also handicapped our society and culture. I think it’s sad how disconnected we are sometimes when it comes to the internet and cell phones. For example, I was at the mall in the food court and there was a father and daughter sitting in front of each other at a table and instead of talking to each other they were both on their iPads.
What is your favourite quote?
• I love quotes so it’s really hard to choose just one but one of my favourite quotes is this one that my boyfriend sent to me:
“Perhaps the butterfly is proof that you can go through a great deal of darkness, yet become something beautiful.”
Anything inspiring you’d like to point our attention to?
Here’s a link to the United Way of Peel. Right now I’m volunteering with them as part of their Young Leader’s Council. I find United Way of Peel inspiring because they help support people in the community through various sectors such as empowering the youth, and helping the less fortunate. http://www.unitedwaypeel.org
Other inspiring organizations I really like are: virgietovar.com. She’s a very highly educated activist and amazing woman. She believes in losing hate not weight.
Reesee Zigazaga is another amazing woman who created Abuse Survival Stories it’s another great non-profit organization that works to give a voice to people that suffer from abuse, a platform to share their stories and freedom from the pain of their past. http://www.abusesurvivalstories.com
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I hope you enjoyed learning about Annalisa as much as I did! Wishing everybuddy an inspired and empowering day! Let’s all make the most of our interactions with ourselves and others. What if we had everything today that we were grateful for yesterday? I think that’s a wonderful way to live. Dare to live! Dare to love! 🙂
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KAT LEONARD 