My application to grad school to get my state certification was denied because my gpa was 1/100 of a point too low. In order to submit my application for review to the exceptions committee, I had to write an essay and have others write letters of recommendation for me. (many thank yous to everyone's amazing letters!!!!) The following is my essay.
When I adopted my first child, who is now
fourteen, I had to make the difficult decision to take a break from education
because she suffers from severe mental illness and developmental delay. At that time, the founder and director of the
school I had been teaching at for many years said to me, “You’ll be back. Once a teacher, always a teacher.” I smiled sweetly thinking I probably would
not return and walked out of the building with a box of the few personal items
I had in my classroom. I remember
thinking to myself, am I a teacher?
Everyone has an educator or two from their time as
a student that stands out. For me, those
educators had an indelible impact on my life because they did more than teach a
subject, they taught me as a person.
Mrs. Watkins, my AP English teacher, taught me I was a strong writer
with excellent thoughts to share. Mr.
Badorf, my Algebra I and II teacher taught me to never surrender to the will of
numbers. Mr. Pillion, my Calculus
teacher, taught me that education is fun and exciting and even more so when the
educator has fun too. Mr. Rissinger, my
Geometry teacher, taught me I was an astute educator when he let me hold tutoring
sessions in the back of the classroom for the students that struggled in his
class. Mrs. Richardson, my second grade
teacher, taught me that loving a student is the most profound thing an educator
can do. Mrs. Johansen, my third grade
teacher, showed me how to laugh through the trials. Mrs. Gainer, Physics and AP Physics, taught
me that women in science are desirable, strong and vivacious. As I think upon it now, it is clear that I
was learning what it meant to be an educator and that such a career would also
be my calling.
When I applied to college, my intentions were to
get a degree in pre-medicine and go on to medical school. I had set my sights
on being a family practitioner. It was
no small feat for me to be accepted into the program as a seventeen year old
freshman at the main campus of Pennsylvania State University. In 1992, only the top performing students
were accepted; the caliber of education provided by the College of Science was
equal to the Ivy League schools of the time.
Though I was a chronological year younger than my academic peers because
I was accelerated a grade, I was confident I could master the coursework. What I hadn’t anticipated was the struggles I
would have in learning in lecture halls of 800 students from professors that
were more interested in their current scientific research than in
educating. Consequently, my core science
grades faltered, though I took no personal offense. An average grade at an Ivy League caliber
program was still an amazing achievement!
Late in my college career, I attended a medical
ethics course. The physician that taught
the course was very clear in his intent of informing his potential professional
colleagues that the future of medicine would change drastically as major
insurance companies and politics would eventually control the way medicine
would be practiced. That same semester,
I took a Health Education course which plied me with the harsh realities of the
then up-and-coming HMO programs. Coupled
with my average grade point average, it became clear that continuing my pursuit
of medicine as a career was not in my best interest.
In my junior year, I began my minor in Community
Health Education. At the same time, I
was carrying a course load of 400 level Biology classes. In a whirlwind of no less than 15 credits a
semester, I managed to graduate on schedule with both a major in Biology and a
minor in Community Health Education and an internship at University Hospital in
Augusta, Georgia. I intended to pursue a
career in health care management as an educator of preventative medicine for
the patients and communities at large. I
was excited and anticipated a bright future for myself. With my minor, my grade point average had
risen significantly and I felt prepared for the work force.
As I wrapped up my senior year, anxiously
anticipating my graduation, I helped host a final exam block party for my
dormitory, my last hurrah as a Resident Assistant. There I taught the study-weary students how
to make tie-dye t-shirts. One of the
other RAs remarked, “Wow. You are a
really good teacher. I think you missed
your calling!” I remember how her
thoughts stopped me dead in my tracks as though it was yesterday. I stood there, speechless and dumbfounded. I was about to be awarded my long coveted
Bachelor’s of Science and in one lackadaisical comment, she had shifted my
entire paradigm.
I tried hard to land a job in Community Health
Education anyway; having moved to the Augusta, Georgia area shortly after my
degree was conferred. I was greeted with
only closed doors and no opportunity.
Eight months post graduation, dejected and unemployed, my student loan
repayment plan beginning; I had a conversation with the woman that became my
long time employer and friend. She was
starting a new private school and needed a science teacher. I smiled.
Thus began my seventeen years of middle and secondary science and
mathematics education.
In the private sector, a certificate is not
required provided the instructor has a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in the
field in which she is teaching. Though I
took time off as I became a mother and raised my small children and then when
my daughter’s care required that I take an emergency family medical leave, I have
taught with glee, pride and excitement.
I am a teacher, I was born to teach, it is my calling, it is my passion
and it never feels like work. I get
giddy talking about my time in the classroom with my students. My students will attest, I might get a little
bit crazy when I get really involved demonstrating a science experiment or
dissecting with students that have never seen the internal structure of an
organism before. The best Christmas
presents you can gift this science teacher are supplies to restock my chemistry
cabinet!
In my career, I have worked with many challenged
students. I have taught students on
probation, students that were remanded to alternative school, students
recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
Pregnant students, physically handicapped students, students with
learning disabilities, developmental delay and mental health challenges have
all sat in my room. I have taught them
all in the same manner that I teach an able-bodied, intellectually capable
student. It makes no difference to
me. I differentiate instruction
according to each student’s needs even if that means she needs to sit on the
floor at the white board with a clip board in her lap instead of at the desk. I modify tests for dyslexic students that
need colored paper and I orally read tests to students that have reading
challenges but know the science content.
I go out of my way to make sure that every student in my classroom has
the same opportunity to absorb the material I am presenting. I consider it a personal challenge to be
certain that every student passes on his own merit.
There are no losers in my classroom. There are no negative statements. If a student is down in the mouth about his
performance, I tell him a minimum of six positive things about him. If a student tells me she hates science, I
reply, “you haven’t had my class yet!”
If a parent tells me his child has always struggled, I ask “what is her
education history? When did you first
notice her grades faltering?” If a
student is disruptive and needs discipline, I talk to him privately and we set
up a plan between the two of us. If my
colleagues can’t handle a student, they know to send her to my classroom with
her work and I will be sure it is completed.
My students have always remarked that the favorite part of being in my
room is the light bulb. When a student
says something that is particularly astute, clever, asks a good question or
solves a difficult problem, they get the light bulb. Then, I make sure that by the end of a school
year, every one of my students has gotten the light bulb at least once. We have
fun, we laugh, we tell jokes, we become family all while learning. It makes for a dynamic classroom that
students love to return to, even if they are not fond of the subject matter.
Until recently, it was never a concern that I was
not certified and teaching part time at a small private school. However, life changes and I have now found
myself in the difficult situation of single parenting three children, two of
which suffer from severe developmental delay and mental health issues. At this time, it has become necessary that I
become certified so I can continue my career in the public schools, increase my
income, receive benefits and hopefully advance my career to teaching future educators
at the university level. There are many
programs available to educators in situations like mine. I have chosen GRU for the MAT program because
of the flexibility and location.
As you read through my recommendation letters from
my colleagues, my former students and parents of my students, you will learn as
I have, that some teachers are born to teach.
You will discover that a certificate is just a piece to the puzzle for
me. I am passionate about my content
area but compassionate about all of my students. I am that rare educator that lives and
breathes the essence of learning every day, in every way. At the beginning and end of every school year
I affirm to my students that the day I die is the day I will stop
learning. I tell them it is my hope, if
I teach them nothing else that they learn to ask why because that is the true
key to learning. I encourage them to be
curious and skeptical, to think outside the box, to research and explore, to
never stop learning. Then I let them
teach me in return. I am Ms. J.
S. I am 40 years old and have
seventeen years of education experience.
I am an educator with or without a certificate from the state of Georgia
and the MAT program offered at this university.
