My Teacher by Emma

My Teacher by Emma - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

I, like many others from a young age, wanted to become a teacher. I thought that I wanted to sit in the classroom with kids and help them with their math problems, maybe do a little bit of art. I mean isn’t that what you think of when you think of teachers? Oxford Languages even defines it as, “a person who teaches, especially in a school.” You see for a long time I thought you needed a classroom and a class full of students to be a teacher. You needed to be employed by the school district and have a job at a school. To say that I fully understand it is a lie, but I have grown and continue to grow to realize that you don't have to be a ‘teacher’ to be a teacher.
Teachers are people I have always admired because they have the ability to help a young child love learning, something that will not only benefit but impact them for the rest of their lives. They build a connection with their students that shows respect and affirms their worthiness to receive the best education possible. There have been a vast number of lives that have touched mine. And many of them have shared a part of their soul in my formation. However, none of them were quite like my mom.
她没有做的书,这是一个学习we go. I didn’t sit down with her for the day while she taught me various subjects. But she was the first person to step into my life and teach me how to be the young woman I am today. My mom was the one to teach me not to talk with food in your mouth, and to say please and thank you. Basic things that show dignity and kindness. She taught me what manners were and showed me how to abide by them, what respect is. She would sit with me for hours and help me with my homework when I was getting frustrated.
My parents have always taught me that education is the key to success and without it you will not have a future. That has been embedded into my brain. As a teenager, you listen to your parents nag on you all the time about school, thinking they just don’t get it. They don’t know what it’s like to have assignments up to your waist, and people to make proud. I have learned through a lot of trial and error that nothing in life comes easy to you. You have to work for what you want.
My mother has taught me to be courageous and stand up for what I believe in. Every time I work with a child, I think about her and the impact she had on my brother and I and it astonishes me. If I can be half the teacher she was to me, I know that I have succeeded in life. I like to think that 16 year old me nailed it. In a way I did. My mom is more than just a person who teaches, she is the individual who single handedly taught me to love myself and the world around me. She taught me how to embrace learning and appreciate it. My mother is and forever will be the greatest and most influential teacher I will ever know.