<p>I almost forgot, here is my essay:</p>
<p>During my high school freshman focus class, I was assigned a project to explore in depth career paths that interested me. At first, I was skeptical, but much to my surprise it was a turning point for me. Prior to this, I had very little interest in school or academics; but by the conclusion of this project, I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up: a teacher. From that point forward, I changed my attitude towards school, began applying myself to become a better student, became involved in school activities, and became a part of the academic community. But making these changes was not entirely easy, sometimes I stumbled; but I learned to take a lesson from my mistakes, set my eyes back on the goal, and move on. This resulted in my grades improving, holding an official position in the marching band, starring in theatre productions, and even becoming senior prom princess. My high school years culminated in being honored at graduation with an academic award received by only ten members of my graduating class of 350. With the hard work that I had dedicated to obtaining my goal of being the first in my family to attend college and becoming a teacher, I soon found myself in my dorm room Autumn quarter of my freshman year with high expectations for what lay ahead.
In Autumn Quarter 2010 and Winter Quarter 2011, I took on a course load of 14 and 18 credits focusing on the general education requirements set by Central Washington University. In my spare time, I joined Colorguard and in winter began working 20-25 hours a week. I received a 3.72 GPA for Autumn quarter, 3.844 for Winter Quarter, and made the Quarterly Honor Roll/Dean’s for both. Making Honor Roll twice in my freshman year of college has been my favorite accomplishment in my life so far because, as the first person in my family to attend college, it was important to me that I show my family that I could succeed and this accomplishment really made my family proud. Though a large course load and a life outside of the classroom was a challenge, the benefits gained financially and making friends was worth it.
It wasn’t until Spring Quarter 2011 that I really hit a bump in my academic performance. I experienced suspected appendicitis and strep throat which caused me to miss a great deal of class and fall behind in coursework and readings. Upon recovery, I met with my professors to obtain and complete all missed work. Thankfully, due to the graciousness and commitment of my professors to help me and the hard work that I was willing to put forth that I was able to pass three of my four courses. Unfortunately, when I realized that I had fallen too far behind to catch up in my math course, it was past the hardship withdrawal date. My math professor helped me to the best of his ability, but due to my lack of understanding of the material I missed, I failed the class but vowed to make it up the next quarter, which I did.
This past quarter, I took seventeen credits of varying difficulties, participated in Autumn Colorguard and continued working at my place of employment. The time commitment to both my job and extracurricular activities was challenging, but the ability to balance extracurricular activities and a large course load I gained during the past year helped me to earn a 3.329 grade point average for the quarter which raised my cumulative grade point average to a 3.367.
My educational path has been leading me towards the same goal for the past four quarters, to complete the Central Washington University general education requirements. However, I have chosen to change the direction of my coursework upon deciding to transfer to the University of Washington. I have chosen to take classes that not only meet Central’s general education requirements but will transfer to meet the general education requirements for admittance to my major at UW. To help further prepare me to enter my major, I will be taking classes at North Seattle Community College Summer Quarter 2012.
While I have experienced success in college, it has not been without some struggle. One of my greatest obstacles which has truly had a significant negative on my grades, curricular choices, and impacted my academic performance was my coming down with an illness during Spring Quarter 2011. While presenting a major obstacle that quarter, the illnesses I experienced had a positive impact on me because they taught me a great deal. This situation proved to me how important communication is with your professors, how much hard work truly goes into good grades, and how important attendance is to succeed in the classroom and in my academic goals.
In spite of any challenges or personal hardships that I have faced, I continue to set goals for myself and strive to achieve them. I have several major, career, and academic goals, which I feel transferring to UW will help me achieve. When I consider my major and what I want to accomplish, several goals come to mind. I want to be accepted into my intended major with an esteemed program and to be doing volunteer work related to my major. But the culminating goal within my major is to graduate with degree in my major cum laude and then to be accepted to the University of Washington Masters in Teaching program. As far as career goals go, I would very much like to be interning in the field of my major as a professional stepping stone so that I can earn work experience and skills prior to graduation and to be hired into a school teaching history to students between 8th and 12th grade. My academic goals include continuing to strive for academic excellence by providing myself ample time to study, keeping extracurricular activities manageable, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The University of Washington has a well-regarded history program full of distinguished faculty and many tools that are available to its students. These tools include the Career Center which is very dedicated to helping students find jobs and internships, the writing centers offered in various departments, the math study center, as well as many other academic support programs that will be a great help to me in meeting all of my goals. At this time, I have not met all of the requirements to enter the History major at the University of Washington, but have an academic plan to meet these requirements by the end of Autumn Quarter 2012. Since history is not considered a competitive major at the University of Washington, I have considered other possible majors but do not feel that I need to firmly decide on a secondary major at this point of my educational career.
As a history student, I feel a natural affinity for foreign countries and cultures. However, the town where I grew up lacked cultural diversity. Mainly populated by people who practiced very similar traditions as my family, exposure to different cultures was minimal. Despite this, I always had an interest in ways of life different from mine and my curiosity pushed me to expose myself to them as much as possible. While I was in seventh and eighth grade, I participated in the homestay program offered by my middle school and welcomed four Japanese students into my home. The summer before starting high school, I traveled to Japan and visited the students who stayed with me. The trip was such a culture shock for me and only piqued my interest in foreign cultures further. In my college experience, I have been exposed to people from all over the world with religions, home lives, and cultures different from my own and have enjoyed learning. My subjection to foreign cultures has not only made me more culturally aware, but much more tolerant and accepting of others and in fact even inclined to approach someone different from me so that I may learn something new about their culture. The University of Washington also has a vast international program that will surely provide further diversity and many more opportunities to learn something new about a foreign culture.
While in college, I have not given my time to any volunteer or community service projects because there was little time to come by with my classes, work, and extracurricular. However, I did volunteer over the course of my senior year in high school at the Washington State School for the Blind. It was a wonderful opportunity providing me with experience in a classroom with children ages 12-18 and with children with disabilities. Overall, this experience was both rewarding and informative and I look forward to making time for similar experiences in the future.
If accepted to the University of Washington, I am very excited to be a part of the campus and community. On campus, there are many groups that I am looking forward to be involved in. Having experience in both the band and theatre departments, I would love to be involved within one of the same departments at the University of Washington. In addition, after participating in Colorguard two years in a row, I have developed a passion for dance and am interested in becoming a part of the Husky dance team. I am also eager to be given the opportunity to utilize my skills, such as my talent in english, passion for history, or sharing my knowledge of event organization in other aspects of the university. In the community, I am looking forward to volunteering in local schools, not just for enjoyment, but to gain further experience that can be applied to my major and future career. I would also hopefully be contributing to the community as an employee either on campus or in one of the many establishments in the city. On top of everything, I am most looking forward to socializing with all students and faculty and taking full advantage of all that UW has to offer.
What attracts me to the University of Washington?: its MIT program. There are several reasons why I feel that the teacher certification program at UW is perfect for me. First being that it is field based. UW has field based instruction in addition to campus-based coursework. It is highly intriguing to me that in the UW Masters in Teaching program, students meet with professors in an actual classroom setting on a regular basis where students receive experience, observe how a classroom runs, and meet with current teachers to ask any questions they may have. Also, throughout the program and meetings within the classrooms, students are gradually given responsibility of the classroom until they are given full teaching responsibility at the culmination of the program. Second, the MIT program at the University of Washington is post-baccalaureate allowing me to focus on my bachelor’s degree as an undergraduate and then my teacher certification in the Masters in Teaching program as a post-baccalaureate student. Third, I want to be knowledgeable on how to handle classrooms and students in culturally and racially diverse communities. The UW College of Education provides hands-on experience and spends time focusing on such diversities in the classroom. Fourth, the University of Washington Master’s in Teaching program allows prospective teachers to have endorsements which allow them to focus on their intended age of instruction. And finally, after completion of the Masters in Teaching program, the University of Washington provides continued support throughout your first year of teaching.
Now that I have attended two years of college, I have a better understanding of my educational goals and myself. I have done research on known teacher certification programs at other universities in the state of Washington and have found that of them all; the University of Washington best aligns with my philosophy and style of learning. The program at the University of Washington allows me to learn through the experience of field based study, to focus on my bachelor’s degree and teacher certification separately, and will provide me with the best opportunity to complete an education that prepares me for my future career. I believe that my path to success, meeting my goals, and to my dream career best continues at the University of Washington.</p>