As a future educator, I am passionate about helping children learn. It hurts my soul to see some in situations that deprive them of the fulfillment knowledge brings. I saw this first hand when, to pay for my schooling, I worked as a paraprofessional in a high school. Sadly, many of our students fell into the ‘low-incidence disability’ category. Even more depressing was the realization that, even though we served many students with autism and other low incidence disabilities, there were many more who were barred from success because they had not been recognized sooner. But what can one person do? I wanted to help them, but I am not yet qualified to admit them into the SPED program. In moments like these, I took comfort in the thought that, even though I may have been under-qualified, one day, I will have more influence and I can help more students reach their potential. As a qualified Special Educator, I can help identify low-incidence students, and I can help them receive the services they need to succeed. Each student who is in a minority fights a battle to win in the education system. However, many do not even know that they are in this war. Thus, they are not provided the skills or the weapons to win. This is one reason why special educators are so necessary. As students learn the skills to cope with their disabilities, they will be better able to handle not just their schoolwork, but also their lives. Each student goes out into the world and faces challenges, and students with disabilities are more prone to this pain than students without disabilities. When a student does not have the tools to survive school, how are they ever to thrive in the real world? Helping students with disabilities is not about getting them to pass their classes. It is about preparing them to become who they can become. Each student deserves a chance to grow and blossom into the best person that they can become. When they are denied that opportunity, the world is denied their strengths, their gifts, their talents. Without these blessings, the world is not nearly as strong as it could. Just think of how much the world has already lost from students who were never given the assistance they needed. Perhaps revolutionary ideas have been withheld from us because our society was unable to help a student. Many students with Autism and other low-incidence disabilities have wonderful ideas, ideas so original that they could change the world. Perhaps one of these students could find a cure to cancer. Maybe one could become an advocate for some unknown group. Who knows? One of these students could become a wonderful parent, or an inspiring leader. Yet, if we don’t educate them, we will never know what they could have become. If we are not willing to help them, they will never become these things. Without our help, their own lives will be difficult and they will be unprepared to work with the difficulties in their lives. The only way to help them is to teach them how to move forward, using their disabilities as a springboard instead of a crutch. They need our help. They need my help and I intend to do all that I can to help them. I intend to be a part of the reason why they can move forward. I intend to be a mentor, a guiding hand, someone who can help them become all that they can become.

Once, when I was much younger, I told my mom that I didn't like school. After listening patiently, she reminded me how privileged I was to have a chance to learn at all. I had never thought of it before, and it changed the way I viewed learning. From then on, I wanted to be a better, more grateful student. Many years have passed since then, but I still think often of how blessed I have been to have the educational experiences I have. Over time, I have felt a growing desire to share that blessing with others, hence the reason I intend to become an educator. There are many branches of education and choosing just one path to follow has been something I struggle with often. There is so much good that can be accomplished as a teacher. Teachers have the power to correct their students' behaviors, to show them how to grow, to help them as they do so, and to encourage them in every struggle. I have had so many amazing teachers and I can't help but feel that I have something to offer as well. I want to help each student I meet become better and I want to help them grow into an even better human being. I have seen so many students change their futures simply because they were able to be educated, and I want to be a big part of that process. There are many things that are not yet fair in our education system, and I want to change that. In my future, I hope to not only be an influential educator, but I also hope to be an advocate for each student. I want to help them see their potential even if they are typically overlooked. I believe that every student has the potential and the power to change the world, but so many are not afforded that opportunity. When I am an educator, I hope to empower the forgotten, strengthen the resolve of the passionate and protect the beaten down students. Every child deserves a future, and the best future they can receive is one that I cannot give them; instead it is a future that I can prepare them to reach for. Someday, I will be part of it and I cannot wait for that amazing day.