The Inspiration Ignition of a soon-to-be Special Education Teacher by Miranda

The Inspiration Ignition of a soon-to-be Special Education Teacher by Miranda - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

Almost everyone around the world understands the vitality of having an education. Yet, many Americans still have a skewed deception of the necessity of an education. This is the most pressing societal problem against education today. High school, junior high, and elementary schools in America have been perceived as a place of turmoil for students with bullying, extraneous curriculums, and more which causes many students to have no desire to further their education. American students feel as though schooling strips them from their freedoms of life, but according to George Washington Carver, “Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” It is paramount to understand how education is a catalyst for success. I encourage and strongly advise all students to understand and value what education can do for people. When going to college or any other educational establishment, the curriculum and the material presented is used to harness individuals intellectual capacities and to stretch them to their furthest abilities. Having access to many studies, trials, and research that are created out of educational institutions have the potential to find vast discoveries that go from curing cancer to discovering a new species. None of that is possible, without an education with understanding the world and how it works. There are places home and abroad that suffer many aspects of poverty. Education and grasping a higher understanding of life could be a catalyst to changing impoverished nations, healing diseases, and increasing the world’s standard of living as a whole. Education is not a waste of time, only a catalyst that inspires growth.

As Nelson Mandela said it, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This is one of the many reasons why I want to pursue a career in the education field. Beginning in sixth grade, I came across a special needs girl with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome. She is a nonverbal child, physically disabled in many ways, and commonly ignored or scowled upon by the people in this world. People might call her a vegetable and useless; however, I see so much in her. I began developing a relationship with her parents and started learning as much as I could about her. I read study after study about her syndrome in order to educate and inform myself to see how I could make a difference in this young girl’s life. Eventually, I learned enough to start putting my knowledge to use in order to make an impact. I read and discovered how to manipulate her weaknesses into her strengths. She took her first eight steps out of her walker into my arms. I learned new developments in the field in order to establish ways of communication without words or sign language due to her impairments, and now she can answer yes or no questions with technological assistance. My pursuit of education of her syndrome helped this girl excel and surpass her highest expected level of education.

My sixth grade year, my principal allowed me to use my study period everyday as an opportunity to help assist and teach in the special education room. Something, I have kept on for the past seven years. I have not only been intrigued with my own curriculum in my courses but also with building and helping these impaired students improve in their educational experiences. I have had the honor of helping the children to learn to read, tutored them in math, befriended them, and have watched them grow. Everything that these children learn is a weapon against their disabilities; it is another improvement for them.

When I become an educator, I plan to change the way children view the education system, just as I advise young students to do now. I did not always enjoy school or value it, but know that I know its worth, my perspective is so strong supporting the education system. So many children take their education for granted, and I hope to change that mentality. I also hope to teach my future special ed students to never be discouraged from an impairment, but see it as an opportunity to claim greater victory over challenging circumstances. I have seen so many breakthroughs and look forward to encountering more. I am eager to learn more and more each day, then use the gained knowledge and apply it in life. Education is a catalyst not only for your success but also a catalyst for the people around you that you choose to apply your education to. William Butler Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” I have had a fire ignited in me, a passion so great for education, and I hope that this fire will continue to spread and reciprocate in order to make one of the largest impacts of a lifetime.