Life’s curves can’t stop special education teacher
Jennifer Nerf is devoted to helping students with developmental issues.
“I knew that I wanted to become a special education teacher. But life throws you curves sometimes. I graduated high school six months pregnant with my daughter, and I got married right away. Later on, I had a son. By the time he was starting kindergarten, I was 24 and tired of being poor. So I decided to go to college.
“Because of the kids, I went at night and on weekends. It was really hard. I took every class you could possibly take at Lee College before I transferred to Lamar University. Then I started driving three to four times a week to Beaumont at night.
“My associate’s degree from Lee College says Dec. 14, 2000. My third child was born Dec. 14, 2000. And if it weren’t for my sister, my death certificate would have said Dec. 14, 2000, too.
“About six hours after I had him, I was bleeding out. It was 11 o’clock at night. My sister was in the room with me and said, ‘You’re bleeding too much.’ I was being a brat and said, ‘This is my third kid. You’re supposed to be bleeding. It’s fine. It’s no big deal. I’m just ready to go to sleep.’
“As she was leaving, she stopped by the nurse’s station and told them to go check on me, that something’s not right. The next thing I knew, I was in surgery. It was pretty bad. So if my sister wouldn’t have been so insistent, I would have gone to sleep and died. She helped save my life.”
— Jennifer Nerf
Jennifer teaches at Baytown Junior School and directs the FOCUS (Focusing On Communicating and Understanding Social Skills) program for Goose Creek CISD. It is designed for students with high-functioning pervasive developmental disorders, including autism, social communication disorder, anxiety disorder and other related challenges.
Related:
