Not Just a Number by Kassidy

Not Just a Number by Kassidy - November 2015 Scholarship Essay

Seeing as I currently attend a high school with an enrollment of roughly 230 students, the aspect of my education that I am most thankful for would be the intimate school environment. In the average U.S. high school, one would typically see an enrollment of 1,000 plus students with class sizes often exceeding 30 students. In my school, there is no class in which there are more than 20 students. The small enrollment of my school allows me to be more than just a number and assists the teachers and other staff members in helping students get the best education they can.
I have a face in my school. When I need help, I can ask for assistance from any teacher and they will know who I am, my strengths and weaknesses, and they will have the time to thoroughly help me. In larger schools, most teachers cannot name each of his or her students without looking at a class roster, and they often don’t have the spare time to give a struggling student one-on-one assistance. Since my teachers don’t have as overwhelming a workload as teachers in more populated schools, my education has significantly benefitted from the extra guidance that comes with me not simply being a number.
Being in the small town that it is, my school is full of students who have known each other since early childhood and will go through their entire schooling lives together. This allows each and every student to form a bond with one another that is not likely to dissipate after graduation. Such a closeness helps me realize that my place of education is not only the building in which I prepare for my future but also a place that I can rightfully call home.
Each and every day I walk into class, I remind myself how thankful I am to live in such a small area and to attend a tightknit school. The substantially low number of student enrollment in my place of education has allowed me to have opportunities and relationships that would not be as easy to obtain in a larger school.