Graduate Transfer

Graduate/Transfer Assignment

Counseling 12

Vincent Vaca

            My career objective was to become a physical education teacher in a secondary school and eventually become a school administrator. In order to achieve this, I attended California State University, Northridge (CSUN). To gain admission into CSUN, I had to apply to the university and take placement exams in math and English. I earned a four-year Bachelors of Science degree in Kinesiology, with a physical education option. The typical coursework for earning a bachelors degree is completion of general education coursework and completion of the lower division, upper division and upper division option requirements. After earning the bachelors degree, it is necessary to obtain a teaching credential from the state of California in order to teach.

There were three schools with a Kinesiology program that offered what I was seeking. Those universities were 1) California State University, Northridge, 2) California State University, Long Beach, and 3) California State University, Fullerton. At CSUN, I completed general education units, and for the Kinesiology major, there were a total of 14 biology and mathematical units that were considered prerequisites. Initially, I took six lower division core Kinesiology requirements comprised of three one-unit classes in dance, fitness, and sport movement. There were also a total of 21 upper division core Kinesiology requirements. These units were comprised of three 3-unit classes and three 4-unit classes. After completing these overall requirements, I then moved onto my specific physical education option requirements. There were 35 physical education units required to graduate. After earning my bachelors degree, I moved on to the credential program at CSUN, and earned my single-subject teaching credential clearing the way for me to teach physical education in a secondary school. Overall, it took 122 units to earn my bachelors degree and an additional 26 units to earn my credential. To reach my goal of becoming a school administrator, I enrolled in a program at Concordia University, Irvine and earned a masters degree in education with a Tier 1 administrative credential.

I initially expected to finish my bachelor’s degree in four years but ended up completing it in four and a half years and earned my teaching credential in one and a half years. I earned my administrative credential in one and a half years. Overall, it took me seven and a half years to get to the point where I can pursue an administrative position in a school.