Educational Opportunities Available to Every

¶ … educational opportunities available to every person are infinite. The human mind is able to comprehend such a vast amount of knowledge that the learning process can continue every day for one's entire life and still not be complete. An inborn desire to absorb information as quickly as I could access it led to a dedicated and focused career as a student, and my education in school was the focus of my life. I continued my self-learning outside of the classroom, of course, but my focus always returned to the academic work presented to me by teachers. The academic setting struck a chord in me, and I felt drawn to this environment as both a student, and later as my career. I continued my education beyond years that many students chose to leave school, and I realized that my desire to remain in school would translate successfully into a career in the school system. I gained an incredible amount of insight in the areas of literature, interpretation, writing, comprehension, critical evaluation, and far more from my teachers and professors, and the skills gained from them have been treasured not only for my own personal enjoyment of reveling in having possession of this knowledge, but also because I have been able to pass this gift on to others. I strive at every moment to provide the students under my guidance with the most complete and truthful information possible, and to help them find the deeper meanings that hide within every subject. I have been further blessed because these students with whom I work daily as a Vice Principal are able to transform and mutate the lessons that the administrators and teachers of our school system teach to them, and return them in a new light with new, innovative applications to us. While working in the classroom setting, I have learned many valuable things that now have an even greater depth and importance to me than when I first examined the concepts as a student years ago. My life experiences have led to learning that will follow me throughout the rest of my educational career.

The focus of my learning has steadily been related to language and communication in various incarnations. The verbal communication skills that were important to me at a very young age in order to best share thoughts and ideas with others translated well into writing skills. Writing is far more than putting words on paper; writing is a way to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information. Various composition exercises throughout my experience have provided me with the ability to both understand this information and to express it in written form. The critical reading skills from the classroom translated into important life skills, such as the ability to fully understand media information presented in the newspaper and other print sources. This is an important skill that many people do not fully develop, which leaves them unable to discern fact from fiction and to recognize what is reliable information vs. unreliable information in the news. When making decisions about, for example, what political candidate deserves my vote, having well developed skills in the area of information literacy is important. When writing, I have learned to apply the same standards to my finished product that I expect from the texts that I evaluate. As I would expect the information in a newspaper -- or classroom text -- to support all claims with reliable and plausible evidence, I incorporate these elements into my own writing. The importance of evaluating the sources that I use, as well as providing proper documentation for these sources for the benefit of the reader, is obvious to me. Finding cause to utilize both primary sources, such as personal interviews, and secondary sources, such as texts written about an historical event, for various research and writing projects, I have examined the benefits of both and learned how to best weave the information they provide into my work. Writing argumentative and explanatory essays alike require thoughtful choice of sources and a supply of evidence for all claims.

Language and communication are essential elements of both nonfiction and fiction alike, and I have also put a great deal of effort into developing my skills in the area of literature. As a student, I picked up on new ways to interpret readings; my classes practiced summarizing, critiquing, and synthesizing ideas found in literature. As I practiced these skills and prepared to take on the role of a teacher rather than traditional student, I found that I had become quite sufficient at not only interpreting literature, but also explaining the meaning of reading passages to others. One exercise that has helped both myself and my students to explore these skills has been to write critically about literature in essay format. Interpreting literature in written form is an excellent way to stay in touch with the deeper meaning of the language and to help the reader to focus on the author's choice of specific words and writing techniques. As a whole, the study groups I have participated in have gained the most insight through reading, discussing, and writing about literature in an open and constructivist setting that allows every person to take on the role of both teacher and student. In order to learn how to understand and utilize literary methods such as point-of-view, plot and structure, setting, themes, figurative language, and symbolism, it is important that one interprets a variety of literature. Throughout my life, I have applied interpretive techniques to the literature reviewed for school, but also to the literature I chose to explore on my own time for personal pleasure. An example of how this translates to classroom and personal reading took place several years ago, when I had the opportunity to lead a discussion group on Greek mythology. Specifically, we discussed the story of Orpheus and Eurydice at length, doing a detailed character analysis of the mourning Orpheus, his dead lover Eurydice, the guardian of the Underworld Hades, and his empathic companion Persephone. Also, we spent a great deal of time focused on the themes of the myth (eternal love, resurrection, triumph against all odds, and turning away from god), and the symbolism used therein (the snake as knowledge, the harp as faith, turning back to see Eurydice as scientific inquiry). When I read Gaston Leroux's the Phantom of Opera for my own benefit, my teaching experience provided me with greater insight into the novel. Erik (the Phantom) is both Orpheus and Hades; Christine (his love interest) is both Eurydice and Persephone. The same themes as the Greek myth, such as eternal love, flowed through this book, and similar themes, such as music as faith, also exist within Leroux's novel. Being able to translate lessons from one piece of literature to another, and from the classroom to casual reading experiences, is a skill that I have built over time and enjoy sharing with others.