Introducing Elise Hennrikus

Hi, I’m Elise Hennrikus born in Coronado, CA. where I lived until second grade.  I then moved to Fresno, CA until I graduated from Clovis West High School.  My first experience with East Coast winters occurred when I went to Assumption College in Worcester, MA.  After four years I went back West, joining the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Sacramento, CA as a teacher’s assistant for second and third graders. I’ve returned to my roots back in Coronado, now attending Cal State San Marcos for the graduate program in multicultural education.

My technologic savvy is fair, not great. I’ve had the same hotmail address since middle school. I’ve used computers for school: word for papers, power point for presentations, the internet for research.  I use the internet for leisure as well: facebook, emails, current events, sports, movies, music. I’m a recent PC turned Mac user and look forward to learning the ins and outs of this computer.

CSUSM’s multicultural education grad-program’s mission statement attracted me. It speaks about learning and fighting for diversity, educational equity, and social justice. When I was a junior in high school I went on a mission trip with my church to Mexico and had the privilege to be a big sister mentor to an orphan for about a month.  Since then I’ve known that I want to work with children, to support those who cannot always speak up for themselves. I had the opportunity to do so during my year as a teacher’s assistant in a low-income school, while participating in Jesuit Volunteer Corps.  I feel that CSUSM emphasizes the same goals and values that I possess and want to further develop as a future teacher.