My Greatest Teacher by Amuri

My Greatest Teacher by Amuri - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

In five years from now I see myself as being a well established teacher. I’ve discovered this path through my own interactions with my family. My father often looks back and tells me tales of my great-granny Maggie, whom I look up to and now consider my teacher in life. I’ve gotten to know her as she helped raise me and through the positive impressions her character has left on others. She’s always been a formidable woman that puts it upon herself to take care of everyone around her. Legend has it she once took care of a room full of people with polio while well aware of the risk to her, truly a nurse of great compassion.
One particular story about my father and his run-in with chickenpox has stuck with me. My granny Maggie, the most experienced caregiver in the family, took it upon herself to look after him. She successfully administered his chickenpox medicine but quickly after something seemed wrong. My father grew sicker and began throwing up. My grandmother Phillis came home soon after and was horrified. She picked up the bottle of medicine and exclaimed, “he's supposed to rub it on his skin, not eat it!”. Those precise instructions on the side of the bottle meant nothing to my great-granny Maggie because she couldn’t read. In fact, she never even made it through grade school. The moments following hearing this story solidified my desire to become a teacher.
It really made me wonder, with an education could she have been some great nurse or doctor healing the ailments of the region? Instead of being a well-intentioned, but mistaken, granny feeding her grandson chest rub? Shortly after listening to that story I started volunteering at a local youth center. As I looked around the sea of faces that I’ve grown close to (which included my young sister) I realized that I never want them to look back and ask “who could I have been with an education?”. I also realized how fortunate I was to have access to an education. It was previously something I had always taken for granted. I was truly in awe at my grandmother’s commitment to helping others, even without the proper tools or education.
That’s why when I was accepted to college, to major in education, the first person I let know was my great-granny Maggie. I knew the feeling of triumph, relief, joy, and accomplishment wasn’t exclusive to me. It also rang strongly in my granny as we acknowledged our generational educational furtherance, a feat my grandmother had worked hard throughout her life to set in motion. When I sent my grandmother the celebratory text message it was also sweet in itself. The fact that I was able to communicate my achievement through text meant two things: 1. My grandmother’s tireless reading lessons had paid off and 2. My grandmother’s lessons on how to use a cell phone had also paid off. She proved that it’s not true what they say, you can teach an old “dog” new tricks. Her perseverance to help others as best she can has always inspired me. I want to take that same mindset when I work with future children and put in the same love, commitment, and determination in everything I do. I truly do not believe my character would have developed to its current state without the strong influence of my