Academic Excellence in English Composition by Christian

Academic Excellence in English Composition by Christian - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

Earlier this year, I was given the award of that name by Palm Beach State College. I was nominated by Professor Arthur Brockway, my College Composition I professor my first semester there. It was truly a great honor and my most valued school achievement. In his speech introducing me as the award recipient, Professor Brockway outlined my many smaller achievements influencing his decision to nominate me.

As the Professor said, I produced top-quality papers for his class, passing both his class and College Composition II the next semester with A's. In fact, I had maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout all of college, getting an A in all of my classes, a significant portion of which were English Literature and English Composition classes.

However, the Professor was also impressed with my initiative and motivation to begin learning to teach English to others. As early as his class in my first semester, I occasionally tutored other classmates who were struggling. Many of my students were not native English speakers, who required extra assistance to keep up with the class that I was more than happy to provide.

I realized in that class that my passion in life was teaching, and I could imagine myself no happier than by doing what Professor Brockway himself did. To meet that end, I approach him to become an apprentice or any kind of personal student to him in learning the ins and outs of the teaching profession. For three semesters, I was allowed to attend one of his classes as an unofficial teacher's assistant and observe how he taught, as opposed to attending classes to learn the material. Occasionally, when the Professor felt I understood the topic enough to, I assisted him in teaching the class, and was always available to provide extra help to any of his students who were interested. It was ultimately this initiative on my part that, I believe, made me stand out from his many students as something of a protégé learning from a master, and that enabled him to nominate me for the award, mentioning all of these things in his introduction of me, as well as that he could easily see me doing what he does someday.

I have many achievement in my time as a college student not mentioned here, among them serving various roles in the school's Writers Club, including President, but it is ultimately my award in Academic Excellence in English Composition that fills me with confidence and reassurance in continuing my education in times of doubt.