Essay Prompt 2: In the past 5 years, what person or group has most impacted your life in a substantial, beneficial and enduring manner? What did this person or group do and why did this make a difference in your life? What do you imagine prompted this person or group to do it? How are you different now?
"A good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others." This quote by an unknown author embodies every aspect of what my teachers at Mid-Prairie High School do for each of their students. Teaching has always been a big part of my life. My mother is a first grade teacher and my father was an elementary art teacher before his accident. I have always known that teaching could be a career where you can influence the lives of others, but it was not until I got to the Mid-Prairie High School that I discovered how teachers could impact your everyday lives, your entire year, and your future.
You know you have an incredible support system when you look back on a year and realize just how much they have affected your life. I look back on high school and see that I would not be who I am today if it weren't for every teacher that I have had in my academic career. However I think that it is the work of the High School teachers that have inspired me to pursue a career in teaching. They have not only inspired me to become a teacher, but to become an influential and inspiring teacher.
When I walk in the doors at Mid-Prairie there are no questions of how my day will go. There is a pleasant atmosphere floating in the hallways and around every corner is a smiling teacher. I know that I can go talk to my teachers about my homework, questions from class, or about what happened at the football game last Friday. Our teachers are not merely educators or classroom managers. They are adults who teenagers can trust in a time during their lives where they don't know who to turn to. In my high school career we have faced many hardships and challenges such as the deaths of a student, two former students, and faculty spouses. The teachers at our school were continually there to support not only myself but also every student in the school as well as fellow staff members. They go above and beyond.
At the beginning of this school year we had an all school assembly. Our principal told us that this year we needed to push ourselves to the point of failure. We needed to push ourselves to where we were learning the most and where we were gaining the most out of our classroom experience. When you have a principal who is speaks to the students with that passion and desire for them to do well you know you go to an amazing school.
When I look at each individual teacher I try and think of why they do what they do. What has inspired them to become a teacher? It seems like each one has a different reason but it always comes back to the same concept. It's because they love what they are doing. They love to inspire and impact students. They have that true passion for their subject area, their school, and most of all their students. Every teacher is someone a student, like myself, can count on. Every door is open and every ear is ready to listen.
Without the compassion of the teachers at Mid-Prairie I know I would not be where I am today. I would not be as prepared for life after high school or as excited, as I am if it weren't for them. If it were not for the teachers at Mid-Prairie High School I would not be inspired to become a teacher myself. Each class that I take I know that I am being prepared for the rest of my life.
The mission statement for the Mid-Prairie School District is "Preparing today's students for tomorrow's world in a caring learning environment." Each teacher takes this mission statement to heart. When a teacher is excited and passionate about what they are teaching their students will have that same excitement and passion about what they are learning. They put forth effort that is beyond any student's expectations and the results are recognized throughout the country. We are recognized as a Blue Ribbon School and in the top 6% of High Schools in the Nation. I am honored to be able to learn in that building and those classrooms.
Looking back on the last three years of high school I can honestly say that I have been shaped into the person I want to be. While this is partly because of life experiences and personal choices it is also due to the passion my teachers have for their profession and individual students. My teachers encourage me to pursue goals higher than what I think I can reach and then work along with me to make sure I get there. When I graduate in the spring I will be fully prepared and ready for life after high school.
My goals for life now are to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education and Social Studies. Then I would like to return to the Mid-Prairie school district and teach future Mid-Prairie students. I believe that it is in this school district where I would have the best opportunity to impact the lives of my students. This is because it is a tradition, it is the standard at Mid-Prairie. We have a saying here at Mid-Prairie, "We do things the Mid-Prairie Way." Every teacher is inspirational, influential, and does their job the 'Mid-Prairie Way'.
If I am half as good of a teacher as many that I have had at Mid-Prairie High School then I will make a difference. I will still inspire, I will still influence, and I will still impact. That is how much effort and compassion they put forth. When I am in college it will be the memories and knowledge I took with me from Mid-Prairie High School that will encourage me to succeed. When I am employed as a teacher, no matter where it is, it will be the memories and knowledge I took with me from Mid-Prairie that will encourage me to succeed once more. And I will continue to act as my teachers have and strive to do everything I am involved in the 'Mid-Prairie Way.'
My guess is that many applicants for this scholarship will identify a teacher or teachers as their significant person. The problem is, that nothing you say about your teachers makes them stand out in any way from all of the other teachers your competitors will be writing about. Indeed, by writing so vaguely about teachers as a group, rather than vividly about a particular teacher, you make your essay weaker than the usual teacher-related essay. My advise? Start over. Choose a specific teacher. Mention your parents and the other teachers as background, but be sure to describe that teacher vividly and specifically.
And as you write your new essay, aim to make it about half as long as this one, without all the forms of "to be" (is, are, were, am, was) that currently plague it.
What did this person or group do and why did this make a difference in your life? What do you imagine prompted this person or group to do it? How are you different now?
^You do not answer this very important part of the essay prompt well enough. Your essay rambles a lot and it is easy to lose interest when reading it. Your essay is also too general, rather than just about you on a personal level.
You need to start over. Be more focused, be more personal, be more direct with the essay prompt.
