There were many moments throughout my time with education where I found myself struggling to overcome my obstacles. I honestly would not have believed myself if someone told me that I would be working to become an elementary school teacher. I feel like this motivation to become a teacher came from a lot of different factors in my life. Part of my desire to become a teacher came from my parents and them helping me to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. I told them about how I wasn't sure what exactly I was interested enough in to pursue it as a career and my extensive list of interests made it even harder to narrow it down to one. We talked about how I found helping people and working one-on-one with the public something important to incorporate in my future work. They told me how they used to call me "Mama Duck" because of the way I interacted with children and created a motherly bond with them. At first, I felt as if the job of working with children could be extremely stressful and hard to maintain as an adult, especially because I plan to have children of my own. I looked at a lot of the different careers that involved working with children and considered the path of becoming an elementary school teacher since my school had a program that allowed us to work in a classroom alongside a collaborative teacher in the mornings. Another reason that I believe created my drive to become a teacher was my experience was taking this class and collaborating with the experienced teachers at my high school as well. Throughout my K-12 education, I struggled a lot to fit in and understand the content being taught to me in class. I also didn't get much leniency from my parents and teachers which I learned was for my benefit and success once I became more involved at my school. After spending more time getting to know my teachers and peers, I noticed how much I started to enjoy the environment that was being created. This is something that I feel was such a big factor in making me want to change the environment into a positive place that our future students will grow and thrive in. My final motivation to become a teacher came from my hands-on experience working within a classroom. After signing up for my high school's course that gives students the opportunity to work alongside a collaborative teacher and real students in our local K-12 school system, I feel as if it was an amazing experience that solidified my desire to become an educator in my future and to continue working towards this goal in my adulthood. This experience helped me to learn what boundaries are needed between students and teachers to create the learning environment that I had in my last years of high school to help my students thrive just as I did. The enjoyment and fulfillment I had from taking on this internship was something I found to be so rewarding and it's something I hope to find again in my future endeavors working with students. With all of this being said, I feel that even though there wasn't one specific thing that drove me to find my passion in teaching, they have all collaboratively made me a stronger, more driven person and have taught me the things I truly seek in my life and career. I have so much love for those who helped to guide me towards a future in education and with this scholarship, I hope to return the favor to those who helped me and the people I will be giving guidance to in my future.

Hello, my name is Taylah Bailey. I am a senior at Clarke County High School in a small, rural town called Berryville, VA. I have committed and plan to attend Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. I have chosen my major to be set as elementary education. After graduating from college, my future career goal is to become a well-rounded elementary school teacher at a Title IX or At Risk elementary school in the state of Virginia. In my free time, I enjoy spending time by the water, listening to music, and participating in any community or cultural events in my local area. I also enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking, and volunteering with my local nursing home through Interact Club at my high school. I first discovered my love for teaching when I was a child. When I was younger, I was one of the older cousins who was often caught watching and taking care of my younger cousins and siblings. I also used to speak with my great grandmother about her previous experience as an educator when I would stop by to visit and spend time with her. We used to talk about things like the activities or tricks she would teach her students about when learning things like math or spelling or the conversations she used to have with her students before she retired. Another reason that fueled my drive to become an elementary school was my great experiences with my teachers and peers during my own elementary school education. Even though I moved schools a handful of times throughout my time in elementary school, I consistently had experiences with my peers and teachers who have helped to shape my future positively. My final reason for choosing to further my education to become an elementary school teacher is my drive to help and create a positive, lasting impact on those who I encounter throughout my journey to being a well-rounded educator. I've always felt so appreciative of the teachers around me for giving me the stepping stones I've needed to navigate my life as an adult and I hope to pass this same experience onto the students I will encounter as an elementary school teacher. I'm also very excited to see my students grow into young adults and use the life skills and lessons that I provide them with once they complete their educational experience.

Hello, my name is Taylah Bailey. I am a senior at Clarke County High School in a small, rural town called Berryville, VA. After graduating high school, I plan to attend Old Dominion University in the fall and major in elementary education. My future career goal is to become an elementary school teacher at a Title IX or At Risk elementary school in the state of Virginia. Some things I enjoy doing in my free time is spending time with family and friends, listening to music, and cooking. I also enjoy volunteering and spending time by the water in my free time. My drive to further my education and become an elementary school teacher came from many different influences throughout my education and childhood. My first inspiring moment that pushed me to become a teacher was the conversations I used to have with my great-grandmother as a child. My great-grandmother was a schoolhouse teacher in her youth and had always encouraged me to take opportunities I had to further my education as much as I could and apply that education to help others in need. When I would visit her, she'd tell me all about the different lessons and conversations she had with her students in the classroom and the amazing connections she made throughout her career as an educator. These experiences inspired the steps I've taken towards my choice to become an elementary school teacher. Another way I was influenced to become an elementary school teacher was my own experiences with being in elementary school but also interning at an elementary school in my time in high school. During my childhood, I had a lot of great experiences with supportive teachers and fellow classmates. I moved many times throughout my years in elementary school and at first, it was hard trying to make new friends, my teachers kept their drive to ensure the quality of my education and make sure I was included and got involved in all of the different lessons and activities being done in class. I also felt that my internship gave me a new perspective on the schedule and struggle of being an elementary school but I still found an immense amount of joy in participating in my local elementary school 3rd grade classroom. The experiences I had during my internship truly helped to push me further towards a career in teaching and helping children develop their education and life skills as well.

Hello, my name is Taylah Bailey. I am an 18 year old senior at Clarke County High School in Berryville, VA. In December, I was accepted and committed to Old Dominion University for the 2024 Fall Semester. I plan to major in Elementary Education and become an elementary school teacher. Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, listening to music, and cooking. I also enjoy spending my free time by the water and volunteering at my local nursing home. My future career goal is to become a well-rounded elementary school teacher at Title IX or At Risk elementary school in the state of Virginia. My influence to become a teacher came from many different things I experienced throughout my personal education and life. One of the things that influenced me to explore and further my education as an elementary school teacher was my great-grandmother. As a child, she used to tell me all about her time and the lessons she used to create for her students in her youth as an educator. She also used to tell me about all of the great experiences and conversations she had in her classroom. Another thing that influenced me to continue my education and become an elementary school educator was my positive experiences and relationships with my elementary school teachers. I enjoyed my time in elementary school because even though I moved schools multiple times throughout my time in elementary school, I feel like I still had an amazing support system during this time with my friends, family and teachers at school. The creativity of the lessons were also a driving factor in my positive elementary school experience and this creativity is something I feel composed to bring into my future classrooms. Another reason based more on my personality as a person and my past that helped me decide that teaching elementary school students would be my calling were my experiences with being an older sibling and cousin who would often help and take care of the little ones in my family. I also feel that after gaining more experience working with children with Loudoun County's Parks and Recreation CASA After School program and interning at D.G. Cooley Elementary School through a class called Virginia Teachers For Tomorrow I that is offered at Clarke County High School. These work experiences have helped me cement my path as an educator and have made me feel more deeply inspired and prepared to continue down the path of becoming an elementary school teacher.

Hello! My name is Taylah Bailey. I am currently a high school senior at Clarke County High School in a small town called Berryville, VA. I committed to Old Dominion University back in December and I plan to major in Elementary Education. My plan after graduating from Old Dominion University is to become an elementary school teacher. I discovered my passion for teaching elementary school-aged children through my previous experiences and the conversations I had with my great grandmother who was also an teacher in her youth. I enjoy spending my free time with my family and friends, listening to music, and by the water. I also love spending my free time volunteering, cooking, and learning more about my family's deeply rooted culture. I hope that through my favorite things to do outside of school, I can help implement them into my career as an educator. I want to positively impact my community by working at a Title IX elementary school in the state of Virginia to promote success in our youth that require assistance in low-income areas. I would also like to dedicate more time to giving children the opportunity to give back to their local communities by donating to local homeless shelters and sending holiday cards to the elderly at nearby nursing homes. Another way I would love to impact others with my future is by finding new ways to uplift our black youth towards a life full of prosperity and excellence by implementing lessons and conversations involving diversity and culture. The final and most important way I intend on passionately impacting the world and community in front of me is by specializing in language arts to help students who need extra assistance in building their comprehension and communication skills. I believe that in this stage of life, it is extremely important to master skills such as these for a fruitful life and career. This mastery is what drew me to the passion of teaching language arts to elementary school-aged children. I also want to help build strong, positive relationships with my students to positively impact the way they navigate the rest of their lives, educations, and professions they take on even when I am no longer their teacher. Through these methods, I hope to be a well-rounded and successful educator who will go on to inspire and encourage others to take on a career path that gives back to those in need.

Hello, my name is Taylah Bailey. I am a high school senior at Clarke County High School in a small town called Berryville, Virginia. I plan on attending Old Dominion University in the Fall and I intend on majoring in Elementary Education. My goal after graduating college is to become a well-rounded elementary school teacher and to join a black sorority to learn more about my culture and connect with educated black women such as myself. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, listening to music, cooking, and spending my free time by the water. I have always been passionate about helping and teaching others while learning along the way. As a child, I was always the older cousin taking care of my younger cousins and siblings. My family rewarded me with the nickname "Mother Goose". After gaining experience from a Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I teaching internship through a class at Clarke County High School for D.G. Cooley Elementary School and working with Loudoun County Parks and Recreation CASA as an After School Aide, I have cemented myself and my path towards my passion of becoming an elementary school teacher. My plans on attending Old Dominion University will also help to push further towards my lifelong goal of becoming an elementary school teacher and push me even further towards helping our black youth become well-rounded and highly educated American civilians of society. A specific goal I have laid out for myself as an elementary school educator is to teach at an At Risk or Title IX elementary school in the state of Virginia to help give a more positive learning experience to those in an area in need. I also plan to specialize in language arts by promoting communication and comprehension in at risk communities with young children in need of extra assistance with language arts. In my future as an elementary school educator, I would love to find ways to give back to our community by getting my students involved in volunteering by donating resources and sending kind letters to local nursing homes and homeless shelters in the area. I feel that volunteering for your community at a young age sets a stone in the path of our youth by also helping others. After my time as a club member of Interact Club at Clarke County High School, I enjoyed seeing the people we helped smile and I believe that this experience could also help young students as well. I would also like to dedicate more time towards celebrating other teachers and encouraging the children that come in and out of their experiences with me as their teachers to want to become educators as well. My great grandmother set an excellent example for me as a child and always told me to strive for greatness and to help others no matter the circumstance. My great grandmother was also an educator in Loudoun County during her youth and has been an inspiration to me and I believe as educators we should celebrate ourselves and our accomplishments to our society as well.