Valuable Lessons by Ashton

Valuable Lessons by Ashton - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Growing up in a family full of educators showed me the value of education and the impact it can have on one’s future, but it was the teachers I had along the way that helped mold and shape me into the person I am today, and the teacher I hope to be in the future. Throughout my academic career so far, I’ve been lucky enough to have many great teachers. From my amazing third grade teacher who taught me to explore my interests, my wonderful mother who taught me to help those less fortunate, all the way up to my zany History professor in college who taught me how to make learning fun and interesting. I learned many valuable lessons from these teachers and many others, but the most important lesson I’ve learned from a teacher would be to trust in myself and to have confidence in my abilities.

This lesson came from one of my favorite teachers, a high school English teacher and has become even more impactful by the fact that she died unexpectedly almost a year ago. I grew up in a very small town and attended a very small high school, my graduating class had 55 students. I was lucky enough to have this teacher twice in my time at the school, once for 9th grade English and again in 11th grade for AP English. This was a teacher that was known for being really hard on students, but she was also known for having some of the best results in helping students improve their reading and writing skills. Each year during testing “season” it wasn’t uncommon to hear about how amazing every student in her class did on the state standardized tests.

Academics had always been something that came very easy to me, so it came as a surprise when I wasn’t doing as well in her class as I had planned. She informed me that my writing ability was okay, but that she wanted much more from me than I was currently giving on assignments. I had never really been challenged like that before so at first I rebelled and turned in work that was worse. However, once my grade began to fall it didn’t take long for me to change my mind and I decided to accept her challenge. I would go to her room before school and on the days I didn’t have practice/games (I played several sports in high school) I would also go to her room after school to work on papers. By the time I was a senior my writing had improved drastically and I didn’t need to go for assistance before/after school, but I continued to do so.

Not only did she help me succeed in high school, she edited my essays for college admission as well as my essays for scholarships for which I applied. She taught me to always be my true self, no matter what those around me said or did. She taught me that with help and guidance, there is almost nothing you can’t accomplish. After I graduated and moved away to college I only went back to my high school a few times, but she was always one of the teachers I would stop and see. We stayed in touch periodically through social media in my time since graduating high school, but I regret that I was never able to adequately thank her for the positive impact she had on my life. This fall I will begin a Ph.D in Curriculum and Instruction, it is my hope that I can inspire and teach my students the simple but very important lesson that she taught me...have confidence in yourself and your abilities and the possibilities for your life are endless.