I am interested in pursuing a career in teaching because, being in school myself, I observed countless classes where students were uninterested and not living up to their full academic potential. However I have also seen classes, of the exact same subjects where those same students are fully engaged and are learning so much. I want to be a teacher that is engaging and safe. Someone that is looking out for the academic potential of every student while also looking out for their overall well being because not every student has someone like that at home. My mom is a third grade teacher and from elementary to middle school, I was always hanging out in the library or computer lab after school with the other teacher kids. I've seen the hard work and dedication that teachers put into their jobs. I've seen the behind the scenes when things get hard and teaching becomes more than just teaching. I've seen how many kids aren't getting the love and attention they need at home and how they, without even realizing it, are searching for it in their teachers and peers. I've seen how my mom has made an incredible difference in the lives of thousands of students throughout her career and how much her heart was in it, and I want to use my gifts to do the same. Teaching has become something I love to do because it is an opportunity for me to share my passions with others. Whether it was helping other kids with their math in school or teaching my best friend who lived down the street to sew, it has always been something I love. Learning has also always been a passion for me because strengthening my mind makes me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to. As I've grown up, my strengths and passions have only revealed themselves further and besides teaching itself, it's English language arts. Reading and writing have always been passions and with the help of all my teachers, especially my eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Wade, I have been able to improve my writing and learn to make it the best I possibly can. Mrs. Wade taught me not only how to be a better writer, but how to take constructive criticism by being humble and realizing that there are 8 billion people on this earth that could probably all teach me something new. I want to be a teacher because of the way Jesus taught us to serve others by using the gifts we were given. I know the best way for me to live out my calling is to teach a high school English class and be the person a student can trust when no one at home is trustworthy. I want to be the teacher that listens when no one else will. I want to be someone in their life who looks out for their academic, mental and physical well being when no one else is. Most of all, I want to make a difference in the lives of students who I know have immense potential and push them to set high goals and reach for them. This scholarship will help me get to my goal of being an impactful teacher by helping me get through school.

Since fifth grade, my love for running has only grown. I would go to cross country practices three days a week at just 11 years old and although it was hard, I felt like I was doing something rewarding. My passion for running grew as I entered middle school and the sport started to become more serious. The summer before entering high school, I attended USATF Junior Olympic Nationals. I had worked so hard to get there but when I heard the gun go off I hit a mental wall. I couldn't get myself to go fast, to reach my goal. I spent the rest of the day crying and wondering what had happened. I asked myself why? Why did that happen? I had been training all year for that moment and I let it slip away. After that, my passion only grew and I knew that as I entered high school, I wanted to set high goals. I indeed set high goals, most of them insane, looking back. But those goals were the very things that set me apart from my teammates. I had a drive that made me excited to run hills in the scorching heat or to get up for a long run at 7 am. However, at the time, like all highschool athletes, I had two separate areas in which took my focus. Sports and academics. Trying to balance it all was hard but I knew in order to be successful, I had to do both. So I took that drive I had when doing something as hard as running long distance and put that into my schoolwork. That mindset has given me the determination I needed to excel in multiple areas. Injury has been my biggest obstacle. A hip injury has stopped me from finishing every single cross country season since starting highschool, but it hasn't halted my determination on or off the track. I am still just as determined to do good in school and to be the best runner I can, even if it isn't what I thought it would look like. The reason that I am still able to hold on to that determination is because I know that my identity isn't in my sport. Jesus Christ, in His ultimate sacrifice on the cross, showed me that there is nothing I can do, nothing I can accomplish that will earn me His love. He loved me first. He loved the world, knowing it would hate Him for generations to come. Knowing my identity in Christ, and leaning on his truth is what has allowed me to stay determined and full of hope in the most difficult of life's seasons. The next season of life, the one where I have to make decisions regarding my future is a scary one, but knowing I want to be a teacher, I have placed my educational goals with that in mind. I want to excel in school, so that I can become the best teacher possible.

I am interested in pursuing a career in teaching because, being in school myself, I observed countless classes where students were uninterested and not living up to their full academic potential. However I have also seen classes, of the exact same subjects where those same students are fully engaged and are learning so much. I want to be a teacher that is engaging and safe. Someone that is looking out for the academic potential of every student while also looking out for their overall well being because not every student has someone like that at home. My mom is a third grade teacher and from elementary to middle school, I was always hanging out in the library or computer lab after school with the other teacher kids. I've seen the hard work and dedication that teachers put into their jobs. I've seen the behind the scenes when things get hard and teaching becomes more than just teaching. I've seen how many kids aren't getting the love and attention they need at home and how they, without even realizing it, are searching for it in their teachers and peers. I've seen how my mom has made an incredible difference in the lives of thousands of students throughout her career and how much her heart was in it, and I want to use my gifts to do the same. Teaching has become something I love to do because it is an opportunity for me to share my passions with others. Whether it was helping other kids with their math in school or teaching my best friend who lived down the street to sew, it has always been something I love. Learning has also always been a passion for me because strengthening my mind makes me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to. As I've grown up, my strengths and passions have only revealed themselves further and besides teaching itself, it's English language arts. Reading and writing have always been passions and with the help of all my teachers, especially my eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Wade, I have been able to improve my writing and learn to make it the best I possibly can. Mrs. Wade taught me not only how to be a better writer, but how to take constructive criticism by being humble and realizing that there are 8 billion people on this earth that could probably all teach me something new. I want to be a teacher because of the way Jesus taught us to serve others by using the gifts we were given. I know the best way for me to live out my calling is to teach a high school English class and be the person a student can trust when no one at home is trustworthy. I want to be the teacher that listens when no one else will. I want to be someone in their life who looks out for their academic, mental and physical well being when no one else is. Most of all, I want to make a difference in the lives of students who I know have immense potential and push them to set high goals and reach for them.

I am interested in pursuing a career in teaching because, being in school myself, I observed countless classes where students were uninterested and not living up to their full academic potential. However I have also seen classes, of the exact same subjects where those same students are fully engaged and are learning so much. I want to be a teacher that is engaging and safe. Someone that is looking out for the academic potential of every student while also looking out for their overall well being because not every student has someone like that at home. My mom is a third grade teacher and from elementary to middle school, I was always hanging out in the library or computer lab after school with the other teacher kids. I've seen the hard work and dedication that teachers put into their jobs. I've seen the behind the scenes when things get hard and teaching becomes more than just teaching. I've seen how many kids aren't getting the love and attention they need at home and how they, without even realizing it, are searching for it in their teachers and peers. I've seen how my mom has made an incredible difference in the lives of thousands of students throughout her career and how much her heart was in it, and I want to use my gifts to do the same. Teaching has become something I love to do because it is an opportunity for me to share my passions with others. Whether it was helping other kids with their math in school or teaching my best friend who lived down the street to sew, it has always been something I love. Learning has also always been a passion for me because strengthening my mind makes me feel like I can do anything I put my mind to. As I've grown up, my strengths and passions have only revealed themselves further and besides teaching itself, it's English language arts. Reading and writing have always been passions and with the help of all my teachers, especially my eighth grade English teacher, Mrs. Wade, I have been able to improve my writing and learn to make it the best I possibly can. Mrs. Wade taught me not only how to be a better writer, but how to take constructive criticism by being humble and realizing that there are 8 billion people on this earth that could probably all teach me something new. I want to be a teacher because of the way Jesus taught us to serve others by using the gifts we were given. I know the best way for me to live out my calling is to teach a high school English class and be the person a student can trust when no one at home is trustworthy. I want to be the teacher that listens when no one else will. I want to be someone in their life who looks out for their academic, mental and physical well being when no one else is. Most of all, I want to make a difference in the lives of students who I know have immense potential and push them to set high goals and reach for them.

People need people. None of us were created to live this life alone or get through hard times on our own. Friendships are one of the most important things in life because you get to choose the people that you experience life with. You don't get to choose your teachers, coworkers or even your family so friends are the vice that allows one to experience life to the fullest. Unfortunately not everyone has the privilege of finding good friends easily. Because of this, I have done my best to serve my community in ways that give people opportunities to find unlikely friends. I was inspired to do this because of my own experiences. In middle school, girls are mean and cliques arise out of seemingly nowhere. So many girls and boys can feel alone and in an awkward space as they try to find themselves and at the same time, good and encouraging friends. When I was in 7th grade, I didn't feel like I had very many good friends but when I showed up at the Junior High program at North Coast Church SME, I immediately found my people thanks to the leaders who encouraged us to open up and were vessels so that us, shy middle schoolers, could open up to each other and talk openly about our struggles. I am still friends with those girls I met that night to this day. It wasn't just because there were girls my age there that I made lifelong friendships, it was because of the leaders who introduced us and created a space for us to get to know each other and have fun together. My mother is a teacher as well and I get to see her pour into students day after day. She works so hard and although I know it is draining at times, she inspires me to do the same. I am 17 years old now and I just started leading a group of 6th grade girls at the same program at North Coast Church that I went through. From babysitting, to volunteering in the kids program on Sunday mornings, I felt like I served well. But this is new and refreshing because I get to be a vessel to help create friendships -in one of the most difficult parts of growing up - that will last a lifetime. Not only do I get to help mold friendships, but I get to be a mentor that the girls can lean on at any time. They can come to me when they have problems that no one else will understand. I love serving by helping students because I can be that person for them, the person that is there when it feels like no one else is. I have always loved serving which is mostly because I have parents who have huge hearts for servant hood, but also because I have grown up studying the scriptures and modeling my life after Jesus himself who, despite being the King of Kings, washed the feet of those society outcasted. That is what I want to do as a teacher. I want to pour into the lives of students by giving them a place to turn to, to run to, when it feels like the world is crumbling. I want to serve them by being someone that cares about their education and physical and mental well being all the while, just being someone who will listen to them.