Education, M.A Education. \"There Are No Shortcuts\"

¶ … Education, M.A Education. "There Are No Shortcuts" Rafe Esquith, a 1981 graduate UCLA. As role model, Rafe Esquithe inspires standing side disadvantaged educated, poor people immigrants.

Statement of purpose: MA in Education

It is wonderful to have a terrific mind, but it's been my experience that having outstanding intelligence is a very small part of the total package that leads to success and happiness. Discipline, hard work, perseverance, and generosity of spirit are, in the final analysis, far more important.

Rafe Esquith, There Are No Shortcuts

Rafe Esquith, an innovative teacher of students who come from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, is a living example of how great teachers inspire their students to do the impossible. Esquith's class of fifth graders, many of whom are the children of parents who cannot speak English, routinely perform Shakespeare and do higher-level science and mathematics. By putting in extra hours in the classroom, and through his enthusiasm and dedication, all of Esquith's fifth graders are able to perform at a level beyond that of even the most gifted children in that age group from other, more privileged schools. Esquith's nonstop efforts are testimony to the fact that there are no shortcuts when teaching students. Teaching must be a vocation, not simply a job, to enable the children of the disadvantaged and the poor to truly participate in the American Dream.

I admire Esquith's methods as a teacher, but I also relate to the experiences of his students. I first began to learn English in middle school. My English teacher, Queen Lee, seemed like a sophisticated, inspiring, and worldly person. I later learned that like myself, she had been born in a rural area of Korea. In my small Korean village, there was no transportation, and only a small church. No school was located nearby, and I often had to walk for three hours to go to school. When I was in the class of Queen Lee, I resolved to become a teacher and inspire my own students to believe in the ability of education to transform their lives. Today, I am profoundly grateful to be living in the United States, a nation with seemingly no limits upon the individual's ability to succeed and transcend economic barriers.

In college, I majored in medical laboratory science because I knew I needed to support myself after I graduated. However, I still harbored an unfulfilled dream: to become a teacher. After getting a job in a hospital as a medical technician, I continued my education. Working a full-time job and taking a demanding course load was grueling, but well worth the effort. After receiving a B.A in Education in 2002 I accepted my first teaching position in a moderately-sized city. I continued my professional education while I taught, and received my B.A in English Language and Literature, enabling me to teach students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools.