Deziree Baker

Hello!

My name is Deziree Baker, and I am a senior History Social Studies Education major at Appalachian State University. I was born on the island of St.Lucia, but I moved here in the summer of 2005 to live here in the United States with my parents, who are Jamaican. Since being here, I have lived in Goldsboro NC. I graduated from Rosewood High School, and attended Johnston Community College where I earned an Associate in Arts.

I decided to become a History Education major because history has always been a subject that interested me, and it also helped that it was a subject that I was good at. However, my goal as a future educator is to make history a subject that kids who may dread it initially will come out my class having a newfound interest and knowledge of the subject matter. Too often we undermine the power of history and write it off as something of the past, when it is really something that we are still living in as well as currently recreating. When the subject of history is mentioned, many students may mention words like “boring” and “monotonous” as adjective to describe it, and that is what I would like to address as an educator.

While I may not be able to change the mind of every student regarding the subject of history, I hope to make my history class one that is engaging and interesting by allowing students to construct their own knowledge of history with me by their side as an academic guide. I will allow my students to view history from different angles that we typically do not look at it from. I hope to give my students a foundation for their own historical inquiry, where they can question history and in turn find the answers to their questions. I believe that teaching the future generation is one of the most important jobs out there, and while I tried to run away from the profession, I found my way back to it and I am passionate about my career path.

In my free time, I love to travel to new places, eat good food, and spend time with family and friends. My family is full of educators, as well as my best friend who just started her first year of teaching, so they are my inspiration as I complete my final year of college and begin my career.