The statement of purpose will provide an opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that you feel could add value to your application. You may also want to explain unique aspects of your academic background or valued experiences you may have had that relate to your academic discipline. The statement of purpose is not meant to be a listing of accomplishments in high school or a record of your participation in school-related activities. Rather, this is your opportunity to address the admissions committee directly and to let us know more about you as an individual, in a manner that your transcripts and other application information cannot convey.
One of the most daunting "truths" in scholastics and any potentially competitive field is the thought that no matter how hard you work at a subject or skill, there will always be someone there who is better than you. Certainly, this is an easily contested point, but tot he student working to be successful in school or the businessperson vying for their slice of the pie, it is as solid and as real as the rock of the earth. My time in primary and secondary school, though not time waster, lacked significant mental and and intellectual development because early on i adopted a a defeatist attitude about my studies. This is not to say i learned nothing, instead i felt little provocation to do well, i scraped along meeting some deadlines and ignoring assignments that failed to grasp my attention. My schools attributed to this pattern, both middle and high school had varying degrees of competition within the student body, The Austin Waldorf School, a private liberal arts school I attended 3-8th grades was a nourishing, wholesome school, but the average total class size of 20-30 students bred an underlying competitiveness in all subjects, which sapped my drive to ascend any ranks. My high school the McCallum Fine Arts Academy drew students from all over the district; many bright and deeply studious individuals found their place in the desks next to me, and again i faltered.
But high school also offered my paradigm shift: I became an avid theater technician. I built sets, designed props, hung lights, ran sound, and stage managed with every ounce of my unchannelled energy. Though somewhat ironic, my success in theater allowed me to debunk my defeatist mindset; having tasted something like the peak of success I no longer felt I needed to meet the top. My academics were still a practice in underachievement, but what changed was I found myself able to channel my energy into a positive force in the theater department. I no longer felt like i couldnt succeed at anything, my realization in one arena gave me the confidence and skill set to to succeed at what felt like anything.
After i graduated high school as the first Tech Theater major of the Academy, i took a much needed "year off." I began courses at Austin Community College in the fall, but my light class load allowed me to focus on things important to me: work, my music, and establishing myself outside my parents troubled financial world. But I soon found myself more focused on scholastics than ever before, i found a new maturity in the environment of college level coursework which focused less on buisywork and more on substantial topic studies. ACC has proved valuable to me as it allows me the flexibility to work and attend school; it has been a crash course in time and resource management and given me a better understanding of my strengths and my goals.
Given my chosen career path, one of the experiences I feel has most benefited me in college is my exposure to a variety if instructors and teaching methods. In a lecture i have found myself studying the instructor almost as much as the subject material; in my head i am compiling a survey of ways teachers organize and direct their classes. This in turn had aided my studies as i can better satisfy what the instructor is trying to convey and what points are being emphasized. As early as just over a year ago i would have never seriously considered a career in education, but i have since then had a change of heart. It took a 5 minute conversation with a complete stranger who recommended i look into it to make me reexamine myself and the idea of teaching. I realized my reasons against it were trivial and factors encouraging it were highly compelling, so i shifted gears in my coursework. History was almost a natural choice, i had always been interested in the past and my fervent interest in current events keeps me interested and looking beyond the headlines.
I feel compelled to attend the University of Texas because i desire to stay in Austin, but more importantly I value the caliber of its Liberal Arts Program. A quality education is the start to being a good teacher; i feel the intent and desire but must now prepare myself for it. I want to foster awareness of the world around us, push students to be critical while also drawing from my own experiences to stress that you don't need to be the student with the highest grades to be successful in school.
No comments:
Post a Comment