The True Accomplishment of College by Erica

The True Accomplishment of College by Erica - July 2015 Scholarship Essay

I hope to achieve many things over the course of my college career. While graduation is certainly one of them, I also hope that I am able to make a difference in the lives of the children I have to work with over the course of my time in college.

While studying for an education degree in my University, you spend six of your eight semesters in direct contact with children in some way (including your student teaching semester). You start off with just an hour a week, and as you progress through the program, you get more time with the children and begin emerging as a teacher.

I hope that through my engagement with these children that they will be able to learn and have a positive experience with their education. I hope that I will not only be able to teach the children the material they need to know to go on to the next grade, but I hope that my relationship with them will have a lasting impact on their lives. I am a strong believer that one person can make a difference in someone’s life, and more often than not, that person is a teacher.

I’ve had many teachers in my life up to this point, from kindergarten through college, and they’ve all had profound impacts on me, mostly for good. I hope that by interacting with these children, I am able to have the same power for good that my teachers have had on me. I hope that I am able to encourage and build up the children I come into contact with and help them realize that they are someone and they’re worth something. I want them to leave my presence knowing that they’re loved and they’re cared about. I don’t want them to think that the only way I’ll care about them is if they make A’s. I want these children to know that they’re loved and that they matter in the lives of those around them.

If the children I work with know that they are loved and that they matter, I will have accomplished my goal in college. The degree is just a piece of paper. Making a difference in someone’s life is the real reward.