Make a Dollar or Make a Difference? by Caleb

Make a Dollar or Make a Difference? by Caleb - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

“Mr. Messer, look!”

The clattering of keys stopped as a boy my age entered my father’s office. Dad instantly turned from his computer toward his door to see the grinning child proudly displaying a drawing.

“I made it for you,” he proclaimed.

“I love it,” Dad exclaimed. “Let’s hang it on my door so everyone can see it.”

Dad taped the drawing to the door and hugged the boy, whose smile doubled in size as he hurried down the hallway.

“Let’s go visit some classrooms,” Dad said.

I accompanied my father to work that day because he invited me to go on a field trip with him and his students. I loved visiting Sherman Elementary School, where he served as the assistant principal. Dad poured his heart and soul into it. His love for his students and his pride in his school were evident to me even then. As we walked through hallways and into classrooms that day, I noticed how happy the students were to see my father. They trusted and respected him. They hugged and high-fived him. He was their superhero.

My visit to my father’s school planted a seed in my heart that sprouted into an ever-growing passion for education. However, it wasn’t always my career choice. I knew I wanted to work with kids because I connected with them just like my father, but I also had another excellent role model in my mother, who was a registered nurse then and is a nurse practitioner now. She introduced me to the world of healthcare. Her profession intrigued me.

My desire to pursue a healthcare career grew because of my pediatrician, Dr. Edwin Childers, who easily connected with me and all of his other patients. In sickness and in health, he always wore the same smile and told the same jokes. Thanks to his influence, I initially decided I wanted to become a pediatrician.

It was a perfect plan: I could work with kids and be financially stable. My parents were happy. But I wasn’t. No matter what I told myself, my heart wasn’t in healthcare; it was in education. I wanted to become a teacher, but I knew the money in education was bad and only getting worse. That honestly was the main reason I even considered pediatrics.

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“Good morning, Scott High School,” Dad said, awakening me and all of the other sleepy teenagers with his daily announcements. Dad, who was my principal then, started every morning with an inspirational quote for his students. Little did he know just how inspirational his choice for that day would be. These wise words from Tom Brokaw came over the intercom next: “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.”

Did I want to make a dollar, or did I want to make a difference?

My heart and I already knew the answer.

I choose to make a difference.

The next step on my path is Marshall University, where I plan to major in elementary education and obtain additional certifications in special education and early childhood education. I also plan to pursue a master’s degree in leadership studies and a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction. I plan to follow in my father’s footsteps by becoming a teacher and principal in my West Virginia hometown, where the rise of the opioid epidemic and the decline of the coal industry ravaged our communities and destroyed our economy for the past decade. Although Boone County and its citizens are still feeling the adverse effects of those events, we are finally recovering and rebuilding. I want to play a pivotal part in that critical process. I want to educate and encourage our youth. I want to help them achieve their goals and reach their potential. I want to be a merchant of hope for my students and a catalyst for change for my community. I could make more money as an educator in other states, but West Virginia is my home. Too many of our best and brightest individuals have left the Mountain State for higher salaries and better opportunities. I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. I want to make the same impact on my students that my teachers and administrators made on me. I want to make a difference rather than a dollar.

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Although there were dozens of children inside of it on this humid summer morning, the gymnasium was silent at Ramage Elementary School. That is, until Dad closed his book — “Wish” by Chris Saunders — with a final word and an exhale of air. The Energy Express students gave him a standing ovation, exploding with joyful applause. Now, it was my turn. I was nervous. I wondered how they would react to me. I took a deep breath and began reading my book — “Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes” by Eric Litwin. The students watched and listened intently as I revealed all of Pete the Cat’s shoe colors, page by page, shoe by shoe, color by color. When I closed my book, I received the same jubilant reaction as Dad. My heart felt like it would burst out of my chest. A single tear of happiness and pride escaped, but I successfully wiped it from my cheek before anyone noticed.

I made the correct choice.