Working with special needs children is my passion because I was put on this Earth to serve. My sense of accomplishment comes from seeing a joyful smile on a child's face after they just learned something new. Seeing the look of gratitude on parents' faces when they see someone treat their child with humility and respect is something that has been engraved in my mind forever. All my life, I have wanted to give back to less fortunate children who don't have the same educational opportunities as I do. Everyone deserves a chance at education, and I want to dedicate my life to helping young children with special needs blossom into talented individuals and thrive in whatever life they choose. Teaching is about showing children who they are and bringing them into themselves. I recall that when I was younger, I had no idea who I truly was. I was constantly trying to be like my friends, teachers, and parents. I struggled to figure out my own identity until my third-grade teacher taught my class a lesson on personal values. She taught me that everyone has different things that they value. One person might value honesty, whereas another person might value trust. We selected a few values from a sheet of paper and shared them with the class. My values were love, family, and hard work. I still have my sheet of paper on this day. As I compared with my friends, they all had different ones, and I thought, "Wow, why does nobody else value family?" My teacher then shared with us that these values comprise your identity and how you approach life. It was at that moment that I realized I had figured out who I was. I am a homebody who prioritizes family and is committed to hard work. Without my teacher, I would've continued to struggle with not knowing who I was. Knowing my values as a person made life, specifically decision-making, so much easier. I now always go back to these three values when contemplating a difficult decision. This experience is what made me realize that I want to be a teacher. I want to help children discover their true identity so they can apply their values in the real world and thrive. This process is how I will guide my special needs students to experience a sense of their presence. I will give them a list of values and let them discover which ones are most important to them, not comparing them to anyone else. Every child is different, and when thrown into a school with many other children, it's hard not to want to mold your personality to fit in with everyone else. School is much more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. It's about learning who you are, how you think, and how to be a global citizen. These tasks are even more challenging for children with special needs, and the reason I want to work with these children is that they don't have the same opportunities as other children. Many schools lack adequate resources to support the education of children with special needs. This saddens me because it should be a standard to accommodate all types of children. These children, too, have values, wants, desires, and needs just like other children. The problem is that there aren't enough people who understand them or want to work with them. I do. It fills my heart with joy to see these young children with special needs thrive daily. I want to positively benefit their community by showing them that they deserve the same educational opportunities as any other child. These children are constantly overlooked and overshadowed, and I want to help stop this. I aim to debunk stereotypes, clarify misconceptions, and contribute to expanding opportunities for children with special needs. I want to help students discover themselves by guiding them in identifying their values and what is important to them because that's the core of effective teaching.