Embracing My Crazy by Emily

Embracing My Crazy by Emily - March 2020 Scholarship Essay

Just last weekend, I was reassured of my heart’s recent decision on my future profession. The sun was far too bright in my eyes; I had forgotten sunglasses and now, as I sat on the bleachers, in the direct line of sight, attempting to watch our high schools’ state softball championship game, I had to look away, look behind and around me, and as I did, I saw the familiar faces that I see everyday. The teachers, principals, counselors, support staff, parents, and my peers. Everyone was hugging and watching the girls on the field; the little kids were running around as their parents desperately tried to wrangle them all to sit down. It was the first time this year that I felt a part of a true community and I realized that this is what I want. I want to be a teacher. I want to be the teacher that rearranges their entire schedule to watch her students in a championship game or in their recital or competition, I want to be the familiar face that they see when their parents don’t show up, or even more so when they do. I want to be a safe place for students, I want to give students a home, if only for a short while, I want to build a community where kids feel cared for and listened to and supported, and I want to be the kind of teacher who cares, truly, deeply, wholly, genuinely, every single day for the rest of my life.
My whole life, I thought I was going to become a lawyer. It was what made everyone smile the proudest when I would announce it at family events and I have all of the right skills, but in the last year, I have realized what I want, what I really want, and it’s to have an impact, it’s to give students someone that cares, that appreciates their crazy, and to share mine with the world.
I know, in my heart, that I was born to be a teacher. I have this special part of me, the part most call "crazy", that I give and give and give of myself to others, and I want to embrace this piece of my being and encourage others to connect and care and feel and love others as deeply as I do, and that is my 10 year plan. To over-teach. To over-share. To over-love.