The Impact of Teaching by Paige

The Impact of Teaching by Paige - December 2023 Scholarship Essay

The air was hot, thick, and filled with dust. Everywhere you looked there was a building with broken windows or a roof falling in. Small children walked the streets half naked and alone. Drug and alcohol addictions run rampant in this village, leaving many children as orphans. This is a small Native American reservation known as Zuni, New Mexico. For three years, I have gone to Zuni for a week at a time, serving as a missionary. Being a missionary in Zuni was like being in another country, and there were strict rules about where we were allowed to go and what we were allowed to say. There was a chill that ran down my spine constantly.
But I had to learn to put my fears aside and focus on why I was there, to help the kids that lived in the reservation. I was serving as a music and art teacher trying my best to teach or at least distract them from the hardships they endured daily. The children in Zuni lived in the constant presence of fear and hopelessness. Elementary school aged children had seen murders and violence, and they carried those scars with them everywhere they went. One of the little boys in particular stuck out to me.
Liam was five years old when I first met him, and he had experienced far more hardship and loss in his five years of life than I had in my fifteen. He was skinny and typically had his clothes hanging off of one of his shoulders. The glasses he needed in order to see, were held together by duct tape in multiple places. He rarely talked and seemed scared of everyone and everything, but over time Liam began to open up. On the last day of my first mission trip down to Zuni, Liam talked to me for the first time. He saw that we were getting our lunch ready and commented on how he missed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was then that he also told me that he didn’t eat lunch most days because they didn’t have anything at his house. When it was time for the kids to go home, I made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and gave him some snacks. He left that day with lunch, pockets bursting from the seams with snacks, and a promise that I would be back next year, and I kept my promise.
In the three years that I have been to Zuni, New Mexico, Liam has opened up to me about everything from his home life to how he likes the crust cut on his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Every year when I get off the bus to greet the kids, Liam runs to me first and gives me a hug. I don’t view him as damaged or broken like others who have visited Zuni, but rather as a little boy who desires what all children need, which is to be seen, valued, and cared for. And I am grateful beyond all words that for a week each summer I can be that person to Liam.
This is just a small reflection of the impacts that teachers make on the world and the lives of their students. Teachers walk with students through hardships and pain. And in some cases, teachers teach their students about more than just school subjects. They teach their students about kindness, confidence, and self-control. These ideals surpass whatever grade the students are in. These are vital ideals that build a brighter future for our society.