“Be yourself, and be patient with yourself,” advised Courtney Haney. “Don’t move just because everyone else is moving. Pace yourself.”
Courtney Haney has had to learn patience with her job at Small Hands Academy in Quitman.
“Working with kids, you have to be patient, and you have to be caring,” stated Courtney. “They come to me with problems that happened over the weekend, and I’ll ask them what happened. They’ll tell me, and I’ll work through their problems with them, and then they’ll go on about their day.”
She has grown to love her job despite it being different from the job she had always anticipated that she would have one day.
“All the kids have a special place in my heart, and I never thought that working in childcare would be something I would do,” explained Courtney. “In high school, I wanted to go and be an x-ray technician. I wanted to be in the medical field. I think it was just the fact that I wanted to help people. In this job, I help people. I help kids, but I also watch them grow into smart, brilliant young kids. I think that’s really why I love this job so much, because I watch them learn something new every single day.”
Working with the children has also helped her come out of her shell a little more. She has always possessed a kind personality, but she is timid. Associating with children and having to communicate with parents has assisted in bringing out a little more of her confidence.
“The kids’ parents trust me with them,” expressed Courtney. “I had to get over that fear when I first started here. I’m shy and don’t do well with new anything. I had to get over the fact that parents just come and drop their kids off, and I’m responsible for them. All the parents and I have a really good bond, and they all are kind of like my second family in a way. My boss is great, my coworkers are great, and the kids are great. I had to learn the kids and how they operate and what their routine is. I treat them as if they were my own.”
Each day can possess some challenges, and it definitely wasn’t easy for her when she first started something new, but she loves the time she has with the children now and is glad she stuck with it.
“I started here two years ago, and I’ve been the two and three year old teacher since I’ve been here,” informed Courtney. “Before this, I was working at the grocery store, and one of my friends worked here. One of my coworkers and I were in the parking lot having lunch one day, and I was ranting to her about how I wanted to get away from the grocery store. Luckily, the girl who worked here was on lunch and had stopped to talk to us and said there was an opening. I came and applied and got the job. My first six months here were rough. I was thrown into the class that was known for running teachers off, and they were going to try their best to run me off. I stuck through it, and I’m glad that I did. I love watching them be able to be in programs at big school because some of them were shy when they were here, and it’s a big thing for me to see them coming out of their shell because I also had to come out of my shell and talk to the parents.”
She does plan to extend her education even more in the future.
“I’m going to go back to college,” declared Courtney. “I reapplied, and I think I’m going to do an educational program. I don’t know if I want to be a teacher or stay here and do what I love doing here. I don’t know if I want to continue my education in the medical field or here, but I’m really leaning towards here, like going into early childhood.”
While she loves her jobs and spends a great deal of time working, Courtney also loves being able to spend time with her family.
“I enjoy spending time with my family,” said Courtney. “Even though I deal with kids all day, I still have time to go see my little sister and brother. That’s what I do in my free time, especially on the weekends.”
Recently, she experienced a life change by saying yes to the love of her life.
“I went on a cruise over Spring Break and got engaged,” proclaimed Courtney. “I’m planning a wedding now. It was surprising, and I didn’t know what to say. I asked him if he was for real. That is one of my favorite memories because I can’t believe I’m actually engaged to this amazing person. He’s great.”
With each day that passes, Courtney continues to show love and patience to everyone around her. She will continue to be a positive influence and great teacher for the young minds she works with each day and an inspiration for everyone else who meets her.
