Introductory Letter

Hi, my name is Petenera Perun. (Pronounced phonetically in Spanish, Petenera refers to a particular style of Flamenco dancing). I was born an only child in Santa Barbara, CA, but moved with my mother and step-father when I was only two years old to a small fishing village, called Placencia, in Belize, Central America. I received most of my K-8th grade education at the local village school. Some of my primary education came from home-schooling because we lived part of the time on a 40’ schooner sailing to Honduras, Guatemala and the islands that surround Belize. After elementary school, we moved to Belize City so that I could attend high school at St. Catherine Academy. Then, after a year abroad between Cuernavaca, Mexico and Zaragoza, Spain, studying Spanish, I moved to New Orleans, LA, where I received a Bachelor’s in International Studies.

My experience with technology? Hmmm…well, I certainly enjoy the ease of today’s banking and the availability of cell phones and the DVR. I rely on these daily for safety and convenience. With respect to computers, I’m definitely a PC person, but all I’ve ever really done is surf the WEB, used e-mail, Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and some PowerPoint (currently the 2003 version). I own a new, but under-utilized lap-top (with Office ’07 version) which I’m just starting to explore. I’m looking forward to expanding my technological horizons in this course!

I was already enrolled in Education pre-requisite classes at CSUSM when I first read the CSUSM/COE mission statement last fall. I had chosen the university based on its location, commitment to academics, and collaboration with students (elementary and up) in the surrounding local community. When I did finally read the statement, I was struck by its authentic and far-reaching inclusiveness and by the fact that I had already seen evidence of these words being put into action long before I had even applied. Very inspiring!