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Teaching: The Myth and the Reality - interest that truly fascinates, amazes, and mystifies me



shadels27 2 / 2  
Aug 11, 2016   #1
To make sure that this application is as encompassing as possible, I've chosen to write about an interest that truly fascinates, amazes, and mystifies me; what it means to be a teacher. As long as I could remember, I've wanted to be a teacher. I remember sitting in my father's Introduction to Communications class at Boston University at seven years old and being absolutely enthralled by how he carried his class. Now seven year old me wasn't necessarily making astute philosophical observations about his pedagogical style, but I remember thinking to myself, "that's what I want to do one day." Something clicked and I haven't looked back since.

Upon my first opportunity, I took it upon myself to be exposed to the world of teaching that students do not necessarily see. As I scoured my school's course list for my upcoming junior year, I found a small listing that I'd never previously seen. The course was a teacher's assistant in a history class. My heart lit up and it was my first course input for the year. Working under Ms. Razzaqui, my supervising teacher, I learned many things. First and foremost, teaching is without a doubt one of the most mentally strenuous professions there is. One of my fondest memories of my time with her sophomore world history class was a quick aside comment she made that blew me away. She would spend between 4-7 hours a night just preparing assignments, grading papers, and making new lesson plans for the next day. All that work just to stay on pace. At first, I was taken aback and was reconsidering teaching, but I came to an important realization; she does the work she does not for the pay, or the flexibility, or the vacations. She does it because it means something that's much greater than her. Again, for the second time in my life, I felt that gravitation that I felt almost eight years before in a communications classroom at Boston University. My short time there made me realize things about teaching that I hadn't considered. It really is one of the most taxing professions that one can undertake in this world. The work it takes to even get there in insurmountable let alone the hours put in day in and day out for students who, sometimes, don't even seem to care. It takes a lot and since then, I've been doing my damnedest to make myself that person. I found myself working harder, longer, and better than I'd had, marking my best high school academic year. I rediscovered a beautiful and thought provoking interest that had gone past a typical likeness; I wanted it to be my future. Teaching isn't just something that one decides to do on a whim, it requires an intense amount of time, patience, and work. It struck me as not just a proud profession, but one of incredible passion, passion I want to find.

Really what separates teaching from other interests I have and why I want to include it is how it translates to something larger. Though I spent only a semester as a student teacher, I learned new levels of patience, perseverance, and passion. It would not be fair or incorrect to say that my time there has not made me a more forgiving and hard working person with a newfound appreciation for the underappreciated heroes of the world. My passion for teaching has moved far past the typical parameters of a hobby and is starting to become a positive addition to who I am and who I intend to be through college and beyond.

Hiddengrace 6 / 118  
Aug 12, 2016   #2
Hey Jacques, welcome to Essay Forum! I think you have a nice start to this essay here. You have given some great images here and the reader can clearly picture you as a 7 year old in a college class. However, I do think your essay can be made stronger.

Your opening paragraph isn't strong enough. It just doesn't grab the reader and pull them in. A good introduction makes the reader want to learn more about the writer. At first, I didn't even realize that was the start of your essay. I thought you were letting us at EF know that you chose to write about teaching. You never have to tell someone you're going to write about your subject. Simply writing about it is much more effective.

I also don't feel like your essay is quite academic or formal enough. Your language is a little bit casual and should be tightened up a little bit. Your words can be a little bit hard to follow in some sections so I'd suggest working more on language and flow. This means making sure that your essay can easily move from point to point and that all your points are in the most effective order.

I think something that would really improve your essay would be to talk more about your experiences as a teaching assistant. You talk briefly about learning "patience, perseverance, and passion," but I would go into much more detail. Describe the work you did. Explain more about how you were able to practice patience and perseverance. How did this experience effect you as a student and how will what you learned help you be more successful?

That's all the feedback I have for you. Keep working and feel free to post an updated draft to this thread when you're ready for more feedback. Take care.


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