Me in Education by Victoria

Me in Education by Victoria - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

I have always been a shy girl. I disliked confrontation and speaking before crowds. During high school, I joined a program called Team Read to help complete my community service hours. Team Read is a program set in elementary schools where we tutor second and third grade students who are below the standard reading levels.

I was paired up with a second grader named Honey. She was at a reading level H, which was quite low for her grade. While working with her, I found out Honey was extremely shy. It was difficult to ask her questions or get her to read aloud to me because she would speak in a very soft voice. I constantly had to ask her to speak up since I could not hear her.

That year was also my first time tutoring an elementary student who was not related to me. I had decided that year that I was going to be a tutor that got things done—someone who was mature, efficient and got the work completed.

However, there were times I found myself growing frustrated. I kept thinking, “How do I get her to speak up more?” I asked a few of my friends for advice, since they had been tutoring kids longer than I had. A few had explained to me that the tutoring method I had chosen intimidated the children. One of my friends suggested I should be more open to her if I wanted her to open up to me.

I took my friend’s advice. The next time Honey and I met, I was friendlier, smiled more and spoke a lot about my own interests. At first I was a bit uncomfortable opening up to a child I did not know well, but I grew into it and found myself befriending Honey. We shared similar interests and she was fascinated with the jewelry and doodles I created. For the rest of the year we shared many laughs and Honey opened up more to me. On the very last day I was struck with pride when Honey announced that she had jumped up four reading levels.

Now, few months later, I find myself striving for jobs that worked with children. Honey not only helped me discover I enjoy working with children; she helped me develop a more charismatic personality. Though I am still trying to discover more about myself, I know for sure that in the future I would like to pursue a career working with children.