Please be honest, this is my rough draft so I completely expect a lot of mistakes and confusing lines. I'm not even completely positive this is the direction I want to go, but it's the best idea I had. Thank you for any input! :)
Why do you seek to join Teach For America?
What would you hope to accomplish as a corps member?
How would you determine your success as a corps member?
The summer after my freshman year, I interned in the District Attorney's office in my hometown. I had grown up in a bubble, always surrounded by the middle class, well-educated people of my neighborhood. The District Attorney's Office quickly popped that bubble, forcing me to interact with convicted rapists, burglars, and child molesters. I tried to convince myself that these criminals had always been bad people, and was able to believe that. The following spring, one of my childhood friends was arrested for arson and, again, I managed to convince myself he had just always been a bad person.
This fall, I started working at Disability Support Services at my university, tutoring at-risk students. My tutees are first-generation college students, brought up in the worst parts of Alabama, who honestly were not expected to graduate high school. In many, I see the same look of determined desperation I saw in the criminals at the District Attorney's Office. At first, this terrified me. As the semester has progressed, however, I have come to realize this look of desperation is not the look of a criminal, nor is it one to fear. It is the look of someone who has come further than anyone thought possible, even though the system failed them so badly, but don't know if they can progress any further. My tutees work full-time, they have families to feed and bills to pay. Their high schools taught them so little, I find my sixth grade students often know more than my college tutees. If I can't help them pass their classes, many have made it clear they are not above resorting to crime to help their families. This is by no means an isolated incident; there are students like this across the state and nation.
I want to join Teach For America so I can help students like this before it becomes too late. If Teach For America had helped my students before they reached my university, I cannot even imagine what they could be accomplishing today. I hope to help more students see college as the next step in their lives, not just a lofty alternative to crime. If I could just help a few students realize that the system cannot define them, that they can achieve as much as the students from wealthier districts, I would consider my time spent with Teach for America a monumental success.
Why do you seek to join Teach For America?
What would you hope to accomplish as a corps member?
How would you determine your success as a corps member?
The summer after my freshman year, I interned in the District Attorney's office in my hometown. I had grown up in a bubble, always surrounded by the middle class, well-educated people of my neighborhood. The District Attorney's Office quickly popped that bubble, forcing me to interact with convicted rapists, burglars, and child molesters. I tried to convince myself that these criminals had always been bad people, and was able to believe that. The following spring, one of my childhood friends was arrested for arson and, again, I managed to convince myself he had just always been a bad person.
This fall, I started working at Disability Support Services at my university, tutoring at-risk students. My tutees are first-generation college students, brought up in the worst parts of Alabama, who honestly were not expected to graduate high school. In many, I see the same look of determined desperation I saw in the criminals at the District Attorney's Office. At first, this terrified me. As the semester has progressed, however, I have come to realize this look of desperation is not the look of a criminal, nor is it one to fear. It is the look of someone who has come further than anyone thought possible, even though the system failed them so badly, but don't know if they can progress any further. My tutees work full-time, they have families to feed and bills to pay. Their high schools taught them so little, I find my sixth grade students often know more than my college tutees. If I can't help them pass their classes, many have made it clear they are not above resorting to crime to help their families. This is by no means an isolated incident; there are students like this across the state and nation.
I want to join Teach For America so I can help students like this before it becomes too late. If Teach For America had helped my students before they reached my university, I cannot even imagine what they could be accomplishing today. I hope to help more students see college as the next step in their lives, not just a lofty alternative to crime. If I could just help a few students realize that the system cannot define them, that they can achieve as much as the students from wealthier districts, I would consider my time spent with Teach for America a monumental success.
