A quote by Brad Henry says, “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” This quote really shows how powerful teaching can be. Teachers don’t just help students pass classes—they shape how students see themselves and the world. That is one of the main reasons I want to become a teacher in the next four years, specifically in Early Childhood Education. One of my biggest inspirations is my mom. Watching her go back to college in her 30s to become a para-professional showed me what determination really looks like. It was not easy for her, but she stayed focused and worked hard because she cared about helping children. Seeing her do that made me realize that teaching is more than just a career—it is something you have to truly care about. Her journey motivated me to follow a similar path and make a difference in students’ lives. Being an older sister has also had a big impact on my interest in teaching. I have always taken on a leadership role with my younger siblings, helping them with simple tasks and guiding them when they needed support. Over time, I started to realize that I actually enjoyed teaching them. I remember when I was in third grade, I taught my younger sister Cloey how to write in cursive while she was in first grade. Even though her teacher did not fully appreciate it, I was proud because I knew I had helped her learn something new. Another memory that stands out is from when I was in seventh grade. I helped both of my younger siblings learn how to find the circumference of a circle. At first, they were confused, but once they understood it, I could see their confidence grow. Moments like that made me realize how rewarding teaching can be. It is not just about giving answers—it is about helping someone understand something they once thought was difficult. My passion for teaching has grown even more through my experience helping in a first-grade classroom. Every day during sixth period, I spend about 45 minutes assisting the teacher and working with students. Some days I help with small tasks like organizing papers or hanging artwork, but the best part is working one-on-one with the students. I often help them practice “trick words” using flashcards until they feel confident. Watching them improve over time has been an amazing experience, and it reminds me why I want to become a teacher. There is something special about knowing you helped someone grow. Teaching allows you to be part of a child’s development every single day, both academically and personally. You help build their confidence, encourage their creativity, and support them as they learn. For me, teaching is not just a job—it is something I genuinely care about. I want to inspire students, just like others have inspired me, and help them develop a love for learning that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

I've been playing basketball for 6 years now. Through these 6 years, I have had many twists and turns that have tested my commitment to a team and a sport. Playing Basketball for so long would make you think that I know what I'm doing but that's not the case for me. When I was in 5th and 6th grade I was one of the best players on the team. I was sneaky and fast and played defense like a mad woman. Then 7th grade hit, it was covid and I wasn't able to play a full season due to the restrictions with the masks and my ability to attend due to being sick or just the virus itself. So my 7th-grade year I lost a lot of my love and ambition for this sport. When 8th grade started there was a lift on the mask restrictions so I decided to come back to the sport I once loved, basketball. Except this year there was a new coach. A coach I never met or played for before. I was excited but nervous to start playing again. The season started rough, it was like I never stepped foot on the court before but I worked and worked and slowly improved. The first couple of games started and I wasn't playing as much as I used to but I didn't let that bother me. I kept a smile on my face and worked even harder in practice. By the end of my 8th-grade season, I only played in a couple of 8th-grade games and I was very disappointed. When I became i freshman I was excited to have another new coach but this year was more of the same. I sat bench because our team wasn't big enough to have a Junior variety team. so for most of my freshman year I practiced a lot but never got playing time. In my sophomore year, we got another new coach but this coach was different, he had a motive to make every player as good as they could be, even with a small team he made it a point to have a JV so the younger girls can get a chance to show there potential. So here I was a sophomore who hasn't played in a full game for 2 years getting a chance to play finally. I started the first JV game. It wasn't my best preforms but the coach saw something in me. I had a motive to get better. That year I improved drastically. We had a coach who was a former player and was one of the best players in my high school history. She taught us moves to improve our game and they helped me a lot. That year I started in two varsity games and made it a point to start every game my junior year. That summer was the first summer we did a summer league, this league was us practicing once or twice a week and scrimmaging teams once a week. This improved my confidence and my abilities in basketball. At the start of my junior year, I was a part of the starting lineup for our school and was one of the leaders of our team. I played in every game in my junior year and improved more and more. I received a trophy this year. The trophy shows off how much I've improved in this sport. I've talked to college coaches about continuing my basketball career in the future. Basketball has taught me many life skills that I will use in the future.

Having an IEP in a school environment is a challenging thing to overcome. Having constant struggles understanding concepts can be difficult especially when a teacher doesn't understand to real meaning of an IEP. The biggest challenge I have faced personally has been test-taking. As a student who has had an IEP since 3rd grade tests have always been my biggest struggle. In my IEP I have accommodations for different tests, which have helped me overcome my fear of tests. At the beginning of my junior year, I realized that I hadn't used my accommodations as much as I used to. I had a meeting in the middle of this year talking about what I still used and what I didn't. I got rid of a couple of accommodations that I didn't use ever, such as extended time for assignments and individualized testing rooms. The only thing I had left was modified tests, which I kept till the end of the year. During the rest of my junior year, I kept a 94 GPA, got inducted into the National Honors Society, Graduated from a club named Juniorleader ship, and qualified for FBLA states. I did all of this with an IEP still affecting my everyday learning and reading. At the end of the school year, we had one last meeting with my English teacher, Business teacher, my learning support teacher, and the advisor of Learning support. We all met to talk about how I was doing In class, I had a 100% in my English class, a 98 in my business class, and a 93 in my marketing class. All three of these classes involved a lot of reading comprehension, but even with an IEP, I kept high scores in all of these classes. At the end of the meeting, we all decided to get rid of all my companions but to keep my IEP open in case anything got worse and I started doing poorly in future classes. Having an IEP has been a challenge for me for most of in Elementary and high school years, but dissipate all these challenges I went through I still managed to end junior year with a high average and new confidence in all my classes. I am taking an AP Spanish course and an AP language course to challenge my brain. Even with an IEP I still managed to gain to confidence to take these classes and I will succeed in these classes.