Teenagers by Brooklyn

Teenagers by Brooklyn - June 2023 Scholarship Essay

"I think I finally got it!" the student says as her face lights up. She just finished writing a poem about The Lord of the Flies. She worked so hard on it. She hands it to me and tells me that she is so proud of her work.

Ten years from now, this is what my world looks like. Two years ago, I declined an accounting contract to be doing this. Ten years from now, I will still be changing lives. I will be helping kids believe in themselves because I was believed in first. My education now impacts where I will be in ten years because without it, I would be an accountant instead of a high school English teacher. Without it, I would never have been believed in, so I would never believe in others. My education challenged me to love others, believe in others, and ultimately help others believe in themselves. Last semester, I spent over 60 hours in the classroom as both the teacher and the student. Without that experience, I would never understand the connection between the teacher and student from both sides, not just one. With that experience, I saw students grasp concepts they thought they never could. Without that one coach who told me I was an English teacher and not an accountant, I would still be that accountant. Without my education, I would still be scared to ask others how they are doing. I would still be scared to have hard conversations. Without my education, I would be scared to even talk to someone I never knew before.

My education will get me to that one day in class where kids are excited to talk to each other about what they have learned because my educators told me I had to try at least one more semester before leaving school all together. Without my specific education, I might have left school and never returned. Now, I devoted my life to it. Instead of leaving, the rest of my career will be in a school. My education will not just help me get to that classroom in ten years, it might actually be the sole reason I get there.