Roger Otto by Kyra

Roger Otto by Kyra - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

The teacher that was most influential in my perception of the value of education was my fifth grade teacher at Douglas Elementary in Raleigh NC, Roger Otto. Mister Otto was an incredible teacher that not only made learning effortless but also encouraged me to think about my future at such a young age. I remember on one occasion he told me that I was very intelligent and as I moved up in grade levels, academic classes would not be enough for me and to always take honors and AP classes when I could. Mister Otto reminded me to always challenge yourself academically and with education comes not only valuable knowledge but also a plethora of job opportunities and that was coming from a teacher with a masters so I knew his advice was trustworthy!

Without fail, Mister Otto would always stress the importance of college every chance he got. Because of that, I always had my life planned out with college as my number one priority after high school even if I had no idea what I wanted to major in. To be honest, I do not even think I would be applying for this scholarship if it was not for Roger Otto.