A Teacher's Influence by Haley

A Teacher's Influence by Haley - November 2015 Scholarship Essay

Growing up with free access to an education has been a blessing for me. I have always excelled throughout school, and I graduated high school in 2015 as Valedictorian. I now attend University of Louisiana at Monroe where I am pursuing a degree in Modern Languages with a concentration in Spanish. I will be attaining a minor in French, and I will also be taking Latin and Italian courses to further my studies.

I was introduced to my first foreign language, Spanish, in high school. My school required every student to take two years of Spanish classes to graduate. I began my first foreign language class during my sophomore year, and I never would have guessed the impact it has made on my life today. My Spanish teacher, Mr. Shambro, was only in his second year of teaching when I took his class; however, he was the best teacher I could have ever asked for. He introduced me to this language, and every day in his class made me love it even more. Nothing about this new language intimidated me, and I was eager to learn as much as possible. He was my teacher for an additional two years following, and nothing made me happier than walking into his classroom every day and expanding my knowledge of this incredible language and culture.

He became my mentor over these three years and prepared me for the real world outside of high school. He introduced me to professors at my university in the Spanish department, and he knew I would succeed in whatever I chose to do. Without him introducing me to my passion, I would not be where I am today – in the process of becoming a Spanish teacher. He influenced me so much and impacted my life more than I could have ever imagined. To this day he checks up on me, asking how my studies are going and making sure I have everything I need to further my Spanish education. Words can truly not describe how thankful I am for his impact on my education, and I would not change a single thing about my high school career.

This upcoming summer I will be attending a Study Abroad program through my college. This is an experience like no other, and I could not be more grateful for my opportunity to participate in this program. I will be studying in many cities across Europe, including Spain, where I will get to put my knowledge to the test in a Spanish-speaking country. Indulging myself in these new cultures will give me real world experience and will advance my knowledge of the language I will one day teach.