Undergraduate / Dependent Children Program Assistant: Application Essay [2]

I am applying for a Work Study position on my Semester at Sea voyage. The position is to work with the school-aged children aboard the boat and help implement a study hall and enrichment program. I am looking for a little help editing or fine-tuning my essay. I'll gladly return the favor. Thanks!

What leadership qualities do you bring to the Dependent Children Student Assistant position?

When asked to think of leaders throughout history, I conjure up images of some amazing people - people like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The nature and magnitude of these men's work led them to become modern heroes, but leadership can also emerge more subtly; teachers do not always represent this common "leader-as-hero" stereotype. Instead, we offer unique qualities stemming from the power of relationships. I am a leader in all my work with children, as I seek to inspire confidence and success in every child by staying true to my character, and teaching responsibility and respect through positive example.

Effective leaders lead by example, inspiring behavior with their daily action. I pride myself on my character and strong values, and do my best to be a role model of respect and integrity for the children I work with. Through my own actions, I encourage them to be honest, sincere, and respectful. Mutual respect helps me establish trusting relationships, which are key to being a leader capable of making a difference. When I work in preschool and elementary classrooms, I make certain I get to know each student on a personal level; in doing so, I become better equipped to help them make connections to their prior knowledge. As I make learning relevant to the students' own lives, I enhance their understanding as well as their confidence.

As a preschool teacher, I am accountable for up to 16 children and a handful of other student staff members, which requires taking responsibility for my own actions and mistakes, as well as the mistakes of others. When mistakes inevitably occur (we're only human, after all), I make it a learning opportunity instead of becoming discouraged. Learning to use mistakes well is a valuable leadership quality and a critical life skill, and as I learn from my mistakes, I encourage others to do the same.

Lao Tsu once said "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." I extend this principle into my work with children both in the classroom and out. By inspiring children to learn instead of directing and commanding, I work as an almost invisible leader. I do not consider it my job to simply impart my knowledge to these children. Instead, I encourage students to ask questions and explore new ideas while using their past knowledge to make sense of new experiences. Leading by example to teach respectful behavior allows me to create learning communities that serve to inspire each child to be a confident student invested in learning for themselves. My role, as their leader, is to facilitate their learning while letting them work from their own initiative.

Through years of experience working with children, I have become a natural leader with many positive assets. As the Dependent Children Student Assistant, I will make use of and strengthen these qualities as I learn and play with the youngest students aboard the MV Explorer. Through my leadership, I hope to help them realize that the realm of possibility extends beyond the borders that they set for themselves. Sometimes, all it takes is a little inspiration by a teacher who cares.

Scholarship / Presidential Scholarship Application: Semester at Sea [3]

Hey everyone! I need to make this essay shorter in order to fit with the directions of the scholarship. The response should be between 600-800 words, and I am a lot over that, at around 1450. ANY help that anybody could provide is extremely appreciated. I am passionate about the topic and had a lot to say, so I'm having a hard time cutting things out! ANY HELP is appreciated and I will return the favor.

"Spending the majority of my life in an idyllic small town nestled in the hills of Southern Oregon is one of my life's biggest blessings. The sense of community I had growing up in Ashland, Oregon helped me form the strong foundation of personal values that I stand firmly on today, which (coupled with some seriously amazing teachers) led me to develop my love of learning and my equally strong passion for teaching and giving back to my community. While always celebrating acceptance of diversity, another constant in Ashland was ignorance of the outside - both politically and geographically - which became the source of my goal of experiencing not just some of the world, but the entire thing. Understanding the cultures of the world and being a great teacher are inextricably linked, and the Presidential Scholarship program is the perfect opportunity for me to gain further insight into the relationship between the two. On my voyage, I will deepen my understanding of the world as I continue to represent Semester at Sea's core values by making honest and sincere connections with students in five different countries, creating an authentic learning experience for the children and myself, while bridging cultural gaps and fostering a more unified global society.

Part of what makes Semester at my ideal program is the perfect alignment of our core values. As an Elementary Education major and future teacher, I continue my own adventures in learning in and out of the classroom while involving myself in schools throughout my community, always holding my students and myself to a high standard of academic excellence. For me, this means not only getting outstanding grades, but also delving deeper by thinking critically about the subject matter, which allows me to establish new, better-informed perspectives. This value has led me to maintain a college GPA of 3.90, while also teaching at a preschool, working as a nanny, and volunteering several hours a week in elementary school classrooms. Connecting with many children throughout my community provides a dynamic learning experience that helps me become more conscious of the world around me and who I am in relation to it, while also furthering my academic awareness.

I define integrity as always doing the right thing (even when nobody is watching), being honest and sincere with others and myself, taking personal responsibility, and holding strong moral principles. As a preschool teacher, I constantly model respect and integrity in all my interactions so that the children may learn appropriate behavior through my positive example. Being responsible for up to 16 preschoolers and a handful of other student staff members requires me to take responsibility for my mistakes and the mistakes of others. Part of my degree program at University of Oregon is spending a minimum 100 hours in local schools, and I always carry my high moral standards through into my interactions with students and staff of the schools to ensure I am representing my university in a most positive way.

As a teacher and volunteer, I am committed to performing a global service and supporting my community. Whether in downtown Santa Ana, California, or suburban Eugene, Oregon, my investment in supporting the children I work with offers them their best chance for high- achievement, as children are most successful when they have a caring mentor. The diversity among these children strengthens my global understanding and allows me to promote intercultural exchange. On the playground one day, I encouraged two girls to share songs with each other after overhearing one singing a song in Korean, and another singing a song in Chinese. Their fascination with the similarities and differences of their songs and their ecstatic exclamation of their discovery to me, "Teacher! I am singing in Korean, and she's singing in Chinese!," prompted my decision to have the whole class bring in a song to share from their family. As students shared songs from Korea, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, and American folk songs, I noticed their gleeful exploration of one another's cultures, which revealed to me the power of intercultural exchange. I hope to broaden this awareness as a Presidential Scholar.

Being passionate about the state of the world, I am driven to take my teaching career beyond the local classroom and into the global arena. Many famous researchers throughout history, such as John Dewey and Maria Montessori, tout the benefits of experiential learning (or learning from experience) and I know that "learning by doing" is far more effective than listening to a lecture from a cramped desk. As a Presidential Scholar, I will build from this idea as I help children in five different countries to explore literacy while learning in a most authentic way - by creating books about their cultures and what is most important to them.

Literacy opens many doors and is the gateway to success and a better quality of life. As a Presidential Scholar, I will create a genuine literary experience where students are engaged in a project in which they create books about themselves and their cultures. This allows children to become active participants in their literacy, instead of passive bystanders. I will supply the materials (paper and drawing supplies) for the bookmaking, and take the books with me to share from port to port. To find children to work with, I will make connections with schools and orphanages through personal research and Semester at Sea's field program offerings.

Starting with the kindergarteners I currently work with in Oregon, and then with children in Belgium, Ghana, South Africa, and Brazil, I will pose several questions for the kids to consider. As a group, we will think about ideas and answers to the questions "What is most important to you?", "what is interesting about where you live?", and "what is school like?". As the children formulate responses, I will encourage them to think deeply into the question and provide meaningful answers. After a group discussion, each child will create a book with pictures (and words, if they want, in any language) describing their answers to the three questions. I realize many children may feel attached to their work, so I will ask for donations of the children's books to bring to the next city, where I will start the activity by sharing the books by a different culture's children. My kindergarteners from Oregon will create their books, and I will bring them along with me to share with the children in Belgium. Then, the Belgian children's books will be shared in Ghana, and so on and so forth, with the books made by the last group, the Brazilian children, to be shared with my kindergarten class in Oregon. Through this activity, it is my hope that children from a variety of cultures get involved in their literacy, start thinking about who they are in relation to their communities, and I am able to promote global awareness and intercultural exchange by sharing the books between countries.

This bookmaking activity allows me the best opportunity to embody the core values of Semester at Sea while abroad. I am devoted to upholding these values throughout the trip, regardless of receiving this scholarship, but enacting my plan allows my voyage to become even richer. This experience will let me continue to pursue academic excellence as a leader, teacher, and student. Honest and sincere reflection upon the questions and respectful listening to each other's ideas promotes integrity, and sharing their books with children in a far-away country provides an intercultural exchange that fosters a better global understanding among children who will likely never experience these foreign places for themselves.

I choose to live my life as a series of adventures, and I can't wait for my next one on Semester at Sea. Thanks to strong connections to my roots and previous adventures that have prepared me to make the most of my time abroad, I am ready to open my eyes and heart to the world around me. Without the ability to appreciate the beauty in my own backyard and recognize the immense privilege in my life, my voyage would mean nothing, because if the stars over the mountains of Ashland, Oregon don't make me catch my breath, then the ones over the Sahara in Morocco probably won't, either. If the child hungrily eyeing treats in the check-out line as his mother buys the essentials with food stamps doesn't make me feel thankful for (and slightly ashamed of) my overflowing cart, then a South African child holding out a hand with hungry eyes probably won't either. When I was 14, one of my teachers told me "I'm excited for your life". To that teacher - thank you. Those words stuck with me, and I will not disappoint. My journey has only just begun. "

Scholarship / Semester at Sea 'global perspective' - a creative work and discuss its effect on you [2]

Semester at Sea scholarship essay, I reaally need some money so if anyone could help me with suggestions for improvement on this that would be great! Thanks!

Prompt: Select a creative work - a novel, film, a poem, a musical piece, a painting or other work of art -- that has influenced the way you view the world and the way you view yourself. Discuss the work and its effect on you.

To be honest, my original plan was to begin this essay with a quote about music being the universal language. However, as I sit here to begin writing this essay about the most influential song in my life, it impossible to ignore that my personal connections to this song are much deeper than such an introduction would express. My father, Al Grierson, was a folk musician and passed away when I was ten. He wrote the song, called "Til the Circle is Complete", and sung it to me as a lullaby for years before recording it on an album when I was six. For me, this song is far more than a cherished memory of my father; it is a beautiful and inspiring message that moves to tears and has stuck with me throughout my life, helping shape my worldview and me as a person.

Though he drowned eleven years ago, my father lives on through his music, and all of his songs remind me to make the most of every day. The best example of the profound effect my father's music has on me is the chorus of "Til the Circle is Complete". Once I was old enough to understand his lyrics, they instilled in me the value of always living life to the fullest, perpetuated my love of lifelong learning, and inspired my confidence to pursue my dreams.

"May you never cease your growing, and your learning as you grow. May the things that you discover be the things you want to know." This is a line from the song's chorus that has become my lifelong motto, influencing me every day. I live by these words as I strive to make my life a continuous journey in which I am constantly learning and growing. Through my growth as a result of taking heed of these lyrics, I also discovered my passion for teaching, which I now consider my calling.

The lyric "May you gain in strength through sorrow, and may all your love be true," strikes a chord with me as I have found strength through my grief surrounding my father's passing. The second line, "may you turn your hand to something that you really want to do" is perhaps my single biggest influence in gaining the confidence to pursue my dream of teaching. Since I was a child myself, I have volunteered with children and loved watching them learn and explore their environments, but society's obsession with material possessions and wealth caused me to shy away from pursuing teaching for years. Instead, I planned to become a lawyer and started college as a pre-law student. After a year of being miserable, I listened to "Til the Circle is Complete" and heard that line again. Hearing my father's voice through the speakers, telling me pursue and discover things that brought me joy, gave me the courage and inspiration to follow my heart and change my major to Elementary Education.

While helping establish my deep love of learning and teaching, this song became the catalyst for my decision to step out of my comfort zone and apply for Semester at Sea. To be an optimally effective educator for all my future students, I need a culturally conscious, global perspective, and to gain that, I must to continue to grow and learn in new and meaningful ways, taking my education from the known to the unknown.

Scholarship / Semester at Sea Scholarship - Describe your most meaningful achievement [2]

Hey! I am hoping someone can look this over and let me know any suggestions to improve it. 200 word max!

Describe your most meaningful achievement and how it relates to your participation and success on Semester at Sea.

During the summer of 2007, I backpacked 130 miles through Oregon for fifty-eight incredible, challenging days, including a six-day solo experience. This started as seemingly pointless and agitating, but transformed into the most meaningful experience of my life thus far.

Being alone for six days prompted me to attack all my obstacles with passion and vigor. As I started to sense my own power and potential, I developed a strong sense of self-efficacy, which will help me on Semester at Sea when I encounter difficulties or conflicts in my classes or in port. I know I am capable of overcoming the barriers to my success.

This experience also inspired me to become involved with helping my community, and upon returning from backpacking, I began volunteering as a tutor with the THINKTogether! program for underprivileged children. This passion to make a positive difference still burns in me today and will help me make the most of my time abroad, as I plan to participate in as many service-learning activities as possible.

My six day solo developed my awareness and motivated me in my role as human being, student, and global citizen that I will utilize while on Semester at Sea.

Undergraduate / 'Growing up in Oregon' - Semester at Sea [4]

This is my application essay for the Semester at Sea program. I really want to get in and need some feedback on this essay...please help me and I will gladly return the favor :)

Prompt : How will your Semester at Sea voyage create (or enhance) your personal global perspective? Highlight your discussion by referencing at least one country on your itinerary and by explaining how your time there will further develop your awareness.

Growing up in a small, Southern Oregon mountain town gave me an understanding and deep appreciation of the beauty of this planet, while also inspiring my lifelong dream of experiencing the other incredible places the world has to offer. Another dream of mine is teaching, and it is vital for educators to be culturally conscious and aware. Being passionate about the state of the world, I am driven to take my teaching career beyond the local classroom and into the global arena. My future goals include teaching abroad and graduate school, but before I can begin making a difference in classrooms at home and overseas, I must learn the necessary knowledge to providing a quality education for multicultural learning communities and a broad range of learners. Semester at Sea will provide me with the once in a lifetime learning opportunity of traveling to 14 different countries around the world, enabling me to gain an informed global perspective and a better understanding of a variety of cultures.

Being surrounded by these diverse cultures and experiencing them first hand provides a much more meaningful and accurate viewpoint than that gained by learning through a textbook or lecture. By making connections with people from all around the world and immersing myself in their cultures, I expect to open my eyes to new perspectives that will give me a better sense of the world and make me more open-minded in and out of the classroom. The unique way Semester at Sea combines classroom learning with cultural exploration provides an unparalleled opportunity for authentic, hands-on learning, as I will be able to see first-hand the cultures and issues I learn about in the classroom. I can live the cultures I am learning about, and by living and learning simultaneously, I will be able to apply my experiences into becoming an informed and effective teacher. This will further enhance my global awareness and challenge me to think in new and exciting ways as a student, teacher, and global citizen.

Poverty is a serious issue that concerns me as a future educator, and understanding it is crucial in connecting with students from low-income families. Seeing the extreme poverty that permeates rural Ghana will give me insight into the alarming situation facing many people on a daily basis. South Africa provides another opportunity to learn more about this issue and develop my global awareness, as I could explore the effects of apartheid and its implications for poverty. By going into the world, seeking out and discovering what I want to learn instead of having the information come to me in a secondary way, I will be able to see the world through a new global lens. This exciting new perspective will allow me to do what I love better and more profoundly - it will allow me to teach, learn from, connect with, and impact young people all over the world.

Right now, I am a student seeking to learn, and taking my learning beyond the two-dimensional world of the classroom allows me the invaluable chance to gain an authentic global perspective of vibrant, different cultures around the world, making me more culturally and globally conscious. My two lifelong dreams are a) traveling and learning from the world, and b) becoming an informed global citizen with the ability to teach effectively and connect with multicultural learning communities. By combining living and learning in a variety of cultures worldwide, Semester at Sea is the perfect opportunity for me to realize both of these dreams.

Undergraduate / 'to grow and evolve in all areas' - National Student Exchange Application Essay [3]

Essay has a minimum of 250 words, no listed maximum. This is 980-ish words. I am wondering if I should make it shorter, if that is necessary, and if I could have some help deciding what I should delete? I'm having a really hard time and feel like everything is important. Thanks so much. I will gladly return the favor !!!!!!!

Prompt: What are your academic expectations for going on exchange? Do you want to take major courses or not? How do you expect to grow personally? What can you accomplish on exchange that you can't at home? Why have you chosen the schools you did?

In my life, I strive to always continue to grow and evolve in all areas. Through school, working, volunteering, and enjoying all that Oregon has to offer, I discover new things about my environment and myself that contribute to my personal and professional development. At this point in my life, however, I feel it is necessary to experience a different setting and environment in order to become a more well-rounded person, student, and future educator. I would like to teach in urban schools someday, and going on exchange in Los Angeles will help me gain an understanding of these areas, along with the different cultures and types of students who live there, which is extremely valuable information for ensuring my student's success. By participating in the National Student Exchange and spending a term in Southern California, it is my hope that I will be challenged both academically and personally with different experiences, which will open my eyes to new perspectives that can further prepare me to be aware and open-minded inside and outside the classroom.

While on exchange, I expect challenges in a new academic setting and to experience school from a new perspective, in an environment quite different from the one at University of Oregon. Los Angeles is different from Eugene in almost every way, and I am looking forward to the varied academic experiences I will have living and learning in such a diverse setting. The remarkable diversity in Los Angeles and my selected schools will enable me to experience school as a minority, something I have never experienced in my sixteen years of schooling and that is exceptionally valuable for a future educator of students in urban areas. I plan to take non-major courses while on exchange, such as Physics and courses relating to urban issues, and I am excited about having much more diversity in these classes than in my Education classes at University of Oregon, where the vast majority of my classmates are like me - Caucasian women. These experiences, through my courses and interactions with my new classmates and professors, will enrich my education, helping me grow as a learner and opening my eyes to new outlooks and ways of thinking.

Academic growth is one way I hope to benefit from my exchange. Another way is in my personal development. My first choice for exchange is California State University, Los Angeles, one of the most diverse institutions in California, which is one of the most diverse states in the nation. As such, my classmates will carry with them a wealth of cultural knowledge and experiences very different from mine. Working with and learning alongside such a diverse group of students creates many learning opportunities and chances for interesting discussions, which will open my eyes to the world and help me become more culturally aware. Living and learning in a melting pot such as Los Angeles will give me insights into our society and myself that will continue my personal development, making me more well-rounded, and preparing me to provide quality education for multicultural learning communities and learners. Only 16% of students at CSULA are Caucasian, so I will be the minority for the first time in my life. Schooling is often quite a different experience for students who are the minority at their school, and I know this could be a challenging experience, but it is one in which I will grow immeasurably, not only as a learner and educator, but also on a very personal level.

Going on exchange and being located in Los Angeles will provide me with opportunities that I would not have at the University of Oregon. My goal as a future teacher is to create an equal and quality education for all students, regardless of their economic background or skin color. Sadly, those students are currently at an extreme disadvantage. In Oregon, I will never experience what school is like for those students. It is my hope that by attending a school such as Cal State LA, one with much more diversity - where I will be the minority - I will be better prepared to teach diverse population in urban centers. Not only will I experience this from the perspective of the student, but I also plan to capitalize on the multitude of career-related volunteer and work experiences in Los Angeles and experience this as a teacher. Growing up and attending college in Oregon, I do not get hands-on, immersive experience working or learning in the types of classrooms in which I wish to teach. Attending school in Los Angeles will give me access to educational, volunteer, and work opportunities that will provide me with real-life experience in the environments and with the types of students I hope to someday teach.

I have chosen California State University, Los Angeles and California State University, Northridge as my choices for exchange because the Los Angeles area is so rich with culture and diversity, and educational opportunities abound there. By attending school in Los Angeles, I anticipate academic and personal challenges that will help me adopt new attitudes and think in innovative ways, and these schools give me the chance to be a student in a diverse classroom environment while also providing me with opportunities to teach or volunteer in a similarly diverse setting. I look forward to learning more about myself, and working towards my goal of becoming an intellectual leader with the ability to connect with diverse student populations.

I hope to be lucky enough to have this opportunity, and that through my hard work and involvement in the National Student Exchange program I will be supplied with experiences, knowledge, and opportunities for growth that I can later build upon to become like the teachers who have gotten me to where I am today, and who have inspired me to make a difference.

Undergraduate / U of Oregon College of Education - What do you hope to accomplish in the program? [3]

I need suggestions on what to say regarding what I hope to accomplish? I need one more solid idea!

I feel like I summed everything up already. I have written the essay, and so this is my paragraph on this topic:

The Educational Foundations program will aide in my journey towards achieving my dream of teaching, and there are some things I hope to accomplish in my education before beginning to make a difference in the classroom. Throughout my own schooling and volunteering, I have encountered phenomenal teachers who fostered my love for education and inspired me to make a difference. As an Educational Foundations major, I hope to become like those who motivated me - an intellectual leader with the ability to connect with students and spark their passion for learning.

What else can I say I want to accomplish in a teaching program!?

Undergraduate / What are your expectations of the Educational Foundations major? [2]

Hey! My deadline is in a week...and I need help editing! I also need to trim this essay down! Limit is 600 words! Please help!! I will gladly help edit yours in return. Mine is for acceptance into the Educational Foundations program at University of Oregon. I am already admitted to the main university.

What are your expectations of the Educational Foundations program? What do you hope to accomplish?

"Great work, class!" I exclaimed delightedly from the front of my classroom, which in reality was rows of stuffed animals imagined as students. As a young child, I spent many hours playing "teacher", practicing in anticipation for what I hope to someday be my own real class, and ever since, my passion for learning and teaching has been obvious. Growing up, I volunteered at the YMCA child development center, where I discovered my knack with children (though I was still a child myself at 11!). I later gained teaching and leadership experience as a swim instructor, followed by volunteering at an after-school program with underprivileged children. Participating in these activities laid the groundwork for my interest in teaching, and became the stepping-stones for my desire to pursue my degree in Educational Foundations.

In addition to a passion for teaching, I am enthusiastic about learning. As a result, my level of excitement about being an Educational Foundations major is sky-high! I do not expect these next two years to be easy, however, and one of my expectations of the program is to be challenged. As one of the most respected programs nationwide, I expect my courses and the superior professors of the College of Education to challenge me academically, as well as challenge me personally to learn new attitudes and perspectives, both of which will help make me a better-quality teacher.

A key aspect of being a highly effective teacher is the ability to deeply understand learning, types of learners, communities of learners, and the environments in which learning occurs. As an Educational Foundations major, I expect to gain this deep understanding in the classroom, as well as through fieldwork with children, for there is no better way of learning how to be a top-notch teacher than through hands-on experience. Throughout my own education and volunteer work, I have encountered some truly phenomenal teachers who have inspired me to make a difference in the lives of children. Ultimately, my main expectation of the Educational Foundations program is that it will enable me to have an impact as an educator, as well as teach me the skills I need to be the best teacher I possibly can.

Educational Foundations is a fantastic program that will aide in my journey towards achieving my dream of teaching. As for now, there are a few things I hope to accomplish in my education before I can begin making a difference in my own classroom. As previously mentioned, I hope to become the best teacher possible - one who is prepared to teach in diverse environments, with the ability to connect with children and excite them about their education. The teachers that stand out to me are the one's that enthuse students about learning, and I hope to learn techniques and skills that will facilitate my doing the same. It is my goal to help all of my future students get the most out of their education, and through this program, I hope achieve that goal.

Through the Educational Foundations program, with the help of an unprecedented education, excellent professors, and hands-on experience with children, I plan to become more than just a teacher. I plan to become one of leadership, one that can make a difference in the lives of children and excite them to gain the most they can from their education. Additionally, I expect to academic and personal challenges academically, to adopt new attitudes and think in innovative ways. Not only will this shape me into a well-rounded educator, but it will open my eyes to new perspectives, ones that can further mold my personality into one of openness. I am convinced, teaching is not a job - it is a calling, my calling. I hope that the Educational Foundations program will remain to true its name, and that I will be supplied with a strong foundation of education that I can later build upon to become one of those teachers I remember so fondly, one of the teachers that had an impact on me, and inspired me to make a difference.