From Student to Student by Gabriel

From Student to Student by Gabriel - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I was a child, I have always had a deep love for mathematics. I have never been one for words or reading, but math has always been the story I'd like to read. As a young boy with ADHD, focusing wasn't an easy task, but whenever it came to math or puzzles I was always on track and interested. Growing up, math concepts have always been easy for me to understand, and I have seldom been stumped by them. In high school, my fellow classmates would come to me for guidance on such topics while the teacher was occupied.

As a teacher I would be fun and energetic; the flow of the classroom would be exuberant. I think of myself as a good speaker and I feel like teaching comes as natural as breathing. I would identify with the kids that aren’t very good at focusing so I would know that those kids need special attention. I understand that not all kids will get the concepts every time. I would take time out of my day to help those who really need it.

I understand that kids aren’t always going to be respectful and I know what it's like to not like a teacher. And if a student has troubles with me I would work as best as I am able, to work through that with them. The teachers that I have had have always been open to questions and they have never thought a question was a stupid one. So just like them, I would be a constructive teacher never putting down a student only building them up.

I know that being a teacher requires the knowledge of being a student, all the troubles and all the excellence. While I would be a teacher, I would also be a student in a very different case. I would never stop learning, maybe not about math but about my students and myslef. So maybe switching the roles wouldn't be all that different for me, but I would hope that i would make a difference in the lives of my students.