My Motivation is Our Future by Caleb

My Motivation is Our Future by Caleb - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

My motivation is America’s future, its youth. I will earn an education to provide one to them. Like my father, my role model for my future profession, education is my calling. I plan to follow in his footsteps by becoming a teacher and principal in my hometown, where the rise of the opioid epidemic and the decline of the coal industry ravaged our communities and destroyed our economy for a decade. Although our county and its citizens still feel the adverse effects, we are 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 enable them to become productive members of society. I’m focused on a college education because it will allow me to accomplish my objectives.

From assisting at church events to volunteering at school programs, I have always had a talent for working with children. I want to cultivate that talent at Marshall University, where I will earn a bachelor's degree in elementary education and certifications in early childhood education and special education. Serving as Scott High School’s drum major was a life-changing opportunity because I embraced and nurtured my love of teaching and mentoring. I pushed and praised my fellow marching band members to give their best effort for every practice and performance. We accomplished much, especially our musical improvement from our first practice through our final performance. However, increasing our membership from 14 to 83 in only two years represented our greatest achievement. Laying the foundation for the future was an amazing and enlightening experience. I’m motivated and focused because I want to replicate that same rewarding feeling as an educator repeatedly.

Education will be my profession, but music will be my passion. As a participant in marching band, concert band, pep band, jazz band, chorus, and theater at Scott High School, the performing arts gave me the ability and opportunity to express myself. They enriched my creativity, strengthened my mind, and developed my leadership skills. More importantly, they gave me a home away from home, where I met my best friends. I will minor in music and perform with multiple ensembles at Marshall University because I enjoy it. I also want to continue improving my skills because I will share my passion and talent for music in my classroom and school. I will encourage my students to pursue opportunities in the arts because of the life-changing effects the arts have had on me and could have on them. I will teach piano and percussion lessons in my spare time to help others find and develop their passion and talent for music. I’m motivated and focused because I will combine my loves — education and music — to create a rewarding career and an exciting life.

I could make more money as an educator in other states, but West Virginia is my home. Many of our best and brightest individuals left for higher salaries and better opportunities. I want to be part of the solution rather than 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. West Virginia has hundreds of teaching vacancies, and I will fill one of them. I’m motivated and focused because West Virginia children deserve a high-quality education, which they will receive in my classroom.

I will become an educator because I want to follow my heart and enjoy my job. As a child, I often accompanied my father to work for field trips when he was the assistant principal at Sherman Elementary School. His love for his students and his pride in his school were evident to me even then. Those visits planted a seed in my heart that sprouted an ever-growing passion for education. There was one problem, however. I knew teachers’ salaries were low, especially in West Virginia. I also knew not to expect satisfactory raises for teachers. Therefore, I considered my options and decided a pediatrician would be a better career choice because I could work with kids and be financially stable. However, my heart was in education, not in healthcare. Ultimately, my freshman, sophomore, and junior years at Scott High School confirmed my initial career choice. My father was my principal then. I watched him transform my school and impact its students through the effort he exerts and the relationships he builds. Students and stakeholders adore my father because of the difference he makes and the care he provides. I’m motivated and focused because I want to emulate my father and be equally impactful.

I want to be a merchant of hope for my students and a catalyst for change for my community through education. I want to help my students and our community by laying the foundation for them to become doctors, plumbers, lawyers, electricians, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, cosmetologists, pilots, cooks, architects, nurses, mechanics, farmers, soldiers, dentists, carpenters, and teachers or any professions they choose. Education is my calling. I will approach it with the enthusiasm and dedication it deserves because I hold the keys to my students’ success. I will create a nurturing and welcoming learning environment for them. I will celebrate, educate, reward, and support them. I’m motivated and focused to do whatever it takes to help them achieve their goals and reach their potential.