Ink by Payton

Ink by Payton - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

Reading is, in every form and variation of the word, my existence. It is my strength, my sympathy, my passion, my reason. I chose to major in English, not because I enjoy writing essays, but because it is something so interwoven with my being that I can’t fathom doing anything else.
When I was around twelve years old, the most depressed and anxious I’ve ever been, I had a teacher pulled me aside and compliment my writing. Now, I was one of those children in which a hatred for writing had been ingrained, created by the complaints of countless peers and adults. She sat me down one day and told me to write, write whatever I want, but keep the pen moving. It was in that exact moment that she changed my life. I found solace in the ink flowing through the nib of my pen as if I were bleeding the wounds of my childhood right there onto the page. I finally felt whole, I could communicate without condemnation or fear. I felt free.
It is because of the actions of this single woman that I am here today, going to university and working to be just like her, a teacher. More than any other people in my life, my teachers have always left marks on me, and I want the opportunity to give that to another child. My teacher inspires me to push through the day because I know one day, I will be able to make a difference in a child's life just like she did in mine. So I work hard, a full-time student and employee, taking one step at a time, one breath at a time.