If you guys could help me out with this, I would really appreciate it and give you a highly detailed edit of your essay. Thanks in advance!
While most middle school students took advantage of their late arrival time by staying in bed until nine o' clock, I chose to spend my time in a first grade classroom. In the mornings before school, I visited Addison Elementary and read with Bacari, working our way through books and sounding out words together. By age twelve, I had already discovered a passion. As I matured, so did this passion. In high school, I started to tutor my peers on a weekly basis through after school programs and informal study sessions. During my sophomore year, I started working at a daycare and fell even further in love with teaching. Although all that my job required was to make sure kids didn't hurt themselves, I aimed to teach each child something before they left, often through play. A movie theater concession stand provided multiplication practice for the older kids and counting practice for the younger ones. We had letter parades where each child chanted a letter's sound, helping reinforce what they had been learning in school. These experiences were enjoyable but education as a profession requires techniques that I lack.
I plan to develop these techniques at UGA. The university's college of education is one of the best known and largest programs in the country, consistently ranking in the top twenty. A base of classes would provide me with an understanding of fundamental theories and smaller-sized honors classes would allow for further discussion and discovery. While classes provide concepts, hands-on practice solidifies them. Getting involved with UGA's various partnership programs such as Thomas Lay and Math Counts would serve a dual purpose: becoming more familiar with my field and helping the elementary and middle school students of my new Athens community. A student teaching position at a local high school would round out my experience; by working with all ages K-12, I could make an informed decision about which grade level I would want work with.
I aim to improve my abilities as a teacher by gaining a solid grasp on the Spanish language. The opportunity to teach abroad through the Honors International Scholars Program would be an invaluable asset to me as traveling to another part of the world teaches lessons in both language and culture that cannot be taught in the classroom. My Spanish class was a full language immersion one and due to constant exposure to the language, I managed to score a 7 on a mock IB exam after just one semester. If one class increased my fluency by so much, a semester abroad would cause it to grow by leaps and bounds. Spanish classes tend to fall short when teaching culture, simply asking students to memorize and regurgitate definitions. As a consequence, Spain is seen by most as bull fights, gypsies, and flamenco, a representation that neglects the country's rich history and social nuances. The fact is: hearing about a culture always falls short of actually living in it. My dad has used his knowledge of Spanish extensively in his career as a teacher, not only to communicate with parents and students but also to coordinate cultural events like his school's Latino Festival. I intend to apply my minor in Spanish in much the same way.
I have been taking steps towards my goal since a young age and plan to keep taking them during college and throughout my life. At UGA, I will continue raising the bar for myself so that when I graduate I can begin working in the profession I love and make my twelve-year-old self proud.
While most middle school students took advantage of their late arrival time by staying in bed until nine o' clock, I chose to spend my time in a first grade classroom. In the mornings before school, I visited Addison Elementary and read with Bacari, working our way through books and sounding out words together. By age twelve, I had already discovered a passion. As I matured, so did this passion. In high school, I started to tutor my peers on a weekly basis through after school programs and informal study sessions. During my sophomore year, I started working at a daycare and fell even further in love with teaching. Although all that my job required was to make sure kids didn't hurt themselves, I aimed to teach each child something before they left, often through play. A movie theater concession stand provided multiplication practice for the older kids and counting practice for the younger ones. We had letter parades where each child chanted a letter's sound, helping reinforce what they had been learning in school. These experiences were enjoyable but education as a profession requires techniques that I lack.
I plan to develop these techniques at UGA. The university's college of education is one of the best known and largest programs in the country, consistently ranking in the top twenty. A base of classes would provide me with an understanding of fundamental theories and smaller-sized honors classes would allow for further discussion and discovery. While classes provide concepts, hands-on practice solidifies them. Getting involved with UGA's various partnership programs such as Thomas Lay and Math Counts would serve a dual purpose: becoming more familiar with my field and helping the elementary and middle school students of my new Athens community. A student teaching position at a local high school would round out my experience; by working with all ages K-12, I could make an informed decision about which grade level I would want work with.
I aim to improve my abilities as a teacher by gaining a solid grasp on the Spanish language. The opportunity to teach abroad through the Honors International Scholars Program would be an invaluable asset to me as traveling to another part of the world teaches lessons in both language and culture that cannot be taught in the classroom. My Spanish class was a full language immersion one and due to constant exposure to the language, I managed to score a 7 on a mock IB exam after just one semester. If one class increased my fluency by so much, a semester abroad would cause it to grow by leaps and bounds. Spanish classes tend to fall short when teaching culture, simply asking students to memorize and regurgitate definitions. As a consequence, Spain is seen by most as bull fights, gypsies, and flamenco, a representation that neglects the country's rich history and social nuances. The fact is: hearing about a culture always falls short of actually living in it. My dad has used his knowledge of Spanish extensively in his career as a teacher, not only to communicate with parents and students but also to coordinate cultural events like his school's Latino Festival. I intend to apply my minor in Spanish in much the same way.
I have been taking steps towards my goal since a young age and plan to keep taking them during college and throughout my life. At UGA, I will continue raising the bar for myself so that when I graduate I can begin working in the profession I love and make my twelve-year-old self proud.