A Lifelong Impact by Marguerite

A Lifelong Impact by Marguerite - November 2024 Scholarship Essay

I have always loved when an adult is talking to me and the conversation becomes dull because 9/10 times they ask, "so what do you want to do when you're older?" My answer honestly probably sounds rehearsed at this point because I have had a plan for my future since the 7th grade. From preschool-6th grade I went to a Montessori school, which fostered my passion for learning. In the 7th grade I moved to public school and spent a solid 6 months there before everything was shut down for covid. I spent the following year online and went back in person my freshman year. My Junior and senior year have been spent studying education at a tech school. My educational career so far has definitely not been the "norm" but it has been fundamental in knowing who I want to be.

In my experience when I tell people that I grew up going to a Montessori school they either have never heard of it or think my entire education was some uncontrolled, wacky excuse for learning. The misconceptions are valid considering how traditional our education system is, nonetheless it's frustrating. So lets clear some things up. The Montessori method is an approach centered around the individual learning needs of children. The goal is to nurture children's natural desire for knowledge, understanding, and respect. While I think that all of those things are true what I found most valuable was that Montessori gave me the gift of choice. It can be hard to be a kid. Constantly being told what to do and that adults are always right is frustrating and disheartening. During childhood we feel so out of control, because everything is being decided for us. But I was able to pick what topics I was learning about, I was able to choose when and what I was doing. And because of this I never dreaded school I was actually motivated by it. I felt empowered by my teachers and I wanted to make others feel the same way.

I really struggled with the transitioned from Montessori to public school in 7th grade. I didn't have interest in many of my classes, I didn't understand 'homework', I was in a new school with new kids, and to add onto everything we entered a global pandemic which moved school completely virtual. The following year we were given the opportunity to go back in person but I convinced my mom to let me stay online. I was terrible at online school but I managed to pass and fly under the radar. My freshman year I was diagnosed with ADHD and medicated soon after. Even with a diagnosis and medication I couldn't force myself to learn about stuff that wasn't interesting. My grades reflected this attitude and when my junior year rolled around I realized I needed to make a serious change. I began studying for classes and coming up with different tricks to help me learn things. I made timelines, maps, and flashcards. and just like that I found myself interested in the things I was learning about. Thats when it clicked, all of the things I was making were learned at the Montessori school. Wherever I go in life I know that I will carry the tools that the Montessori method provided me with. And because of my time in traditional schooling I can actually understand just how valuable those tools are.

I learned that my school had a partnering technology school my Sophomore year and immediately applied to their early childhood education program. I have been pretty dead set on education since the 6th grade when I declared that someday I'd be a teacher. So you can imagine my excitement when I hear there is a program that lets me spend half of my school day working in a preschool and learning about childhood development. This school also came with its fair share of misconceptions, labeling it "weird" or for "troubled kids." But, I chose to ignore others and applied anyway. Growing up in a small suburb can make it easy to forget just how big the world really is. I have made friends with the most unlikely people and become part of a wonderful community. The classroom environment at Tech is very different from where I imagine myself in the future but I have learned so much about the kind of teacher I want to be.

I feel so grateful to have been able to experience 3 very different methods of teaching over the course of my life. I believe the experience is key to my future success. It may have been confirmed since the 7th grade that I want to be a teacher, but over the course of my educational career I have learned what that really means. I want to empower children with the power of choice, I want to provide them with the tools to be self sufficient enough to succeed in the future, I want to help them gain the confidence to put themselves in a new environment. My ultimate goal is to help ignite that passion for learning which is inside us all.