The Teacher by Kylee

The Teacher by Kylee - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

When I was six years old, I wanted to be a teacher. How could you blame me? Both of my parents, half of my aunts, and most of our family friends were all educators. I grew up decorating bulletin boards, helping grade the tests I could understand, and hearing stories about funny and frustrating times in the classroom.
At first, I wanted to be a teacher because I just wanted to be like my parents. I also adored my kindergarten teacher so I wanted to be just like her. As I got into middle school, I realized teaching might be a legitimate option for me, as I was good at helping my classmates with assignments and school came relatively easy to me. Plus, I still loved decorating my mom’s bulletin board.
Eventually, high school came around, which means planning for college. This was the first time I was exposed to Architecture as a career path, and I fell in love. I knew teaching wasn’t going to be my livelihood, but I still adored it. I taught swimming lessons and helped coach youth sports camps in the summer. There was something intoxicating about watching a little boy finally figure out how to do a front float, and the smile across his face once he recognized he could do it.
Whenever I was out with one of my parents, at a restaurant or the grocery store, there was an 85% chance we’d run into one of their former students. When I was young, I would just stand around during their conversations and let myself day dream, but once I was old enough to understand what they were saying, I was amazed at what I was hearing. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve seen grown men and women come up to my parents with huge smiles on their faces, talking about what they remember from 4th grade P.E. class. If I’m with my father, and we run into a boy, he often tells my dad how great of an impact he had on his life and thanks him for being such a great example.
I’ve realized that while teachers usually teach one specific subject, the best of them end up instilling much more than facts and theories in the lives of their students. Teachers can be a guiding hand, an ear to listen, a word of advice, or simply someone to hold the stapler while we decorate the bulletin board. Teachers do all of this and more, and they leave lasting impressions on people. When I was six years old, I wanted to be a teacher. Today at nineteen, I still want to be a teacher.