Sounds like an educational Jewish mother......
"Eat! Eat!"
LittleK--
Good thoughts, good writing.
Now, the next step.....
Really nice littlek!!
The structure is very good so I'm not messing with it, just typos and such that I noticed:
Capitalize "Moroccan"
Capitalize the first use of "Basque"
Capitalize "Spanish"
The word you use twice is spelled "inescapable"
Make your use of capitalization on "North" and "South" consistent.
"Truly", not "truely"
"part-time", not "partime"
"rebellions", not "rebelions"
"there have also been breakthrough moments," not "there has also been..."
Your last sentence has great content but is a little awkward for being your last sentence. Maybe, "I am hopeful that I will soon be able to meet the members of the cohort..." or "I look forward to meeting the members of the cohort..."
Overall, agree with others that it's much more assertive and very convincing.
Erm, I hope you don't mind littlek, I also did a wee bit of editing and changed up the last para a bit. Take a look and see what you think. The edits were pretty much the same as soz's comments above.
=================
Teaching is in my blood. The personal quest for knowledge and the desire to teach pervades the fabric of my family, even infusing those of us who are not teachers. I spent many years educating myself through life experience before deciding I wanted to make educating others my career.
While growing up in a homogenous suburb of Boston, I felt that my young life was not a well-rounded one. Even in elementary school, I felt a strong desire to expand my horizons. I remember a project in sixth grade in which we learned about Native American traditions and culture. During that project, I made several Native American tools out of clay: an awl, a crescent blade and a mano-matate set. This one project had a huge effect on my future. I went on to college where I self-designed a major in anthropology, combining sociology and geography. During the summer before my senior year I spent eight weeks in Utah on an archeological dig. My world began to expand.
I wanted to experience the West in a deeper way. I wanted to learn about different ethnic groups, various landscapes and socio-political structures. I jumped at jobs which allowed to me to interact with locals and learn about local cultures. I drove to Santa Fe, NM, and took a job at a cafe where I could meet and interact with people from all over New Mexico and travelers from abroad as well. I also worked at an import store for a Moroccan man and his Basque wife. From this couple I learned about the history of the Spanish control over both Morocco and the bulk of the Basque lands. I listened to my boss haggle with traders from Pakistan and Afghanistan. From the area itself, I learned about the Spanish explorers who came up from Mexico and the Native Americans whom they met in that area now known as New Mexico. I visited old Spanish churches and Pueblo and Anasazi ruins. The history there was inescapable.
From the Southwest, I drove to the South, where history was also inescapable. Here was a different story, the story of slavery and the Civil War. In Georgia, I continued to take jobs of a service nature where I could meet people. My time in Georgia taught me to stand up for myself and others in the face of lingering bigotry. Prejudice of all kinds still lingered in the North, but I found it to be more obvious in the South. While living there, and after 10 years of living out of state, I started to miss my family and New England and decided to move back home.
I wanted to do something truly rewarding, as well as educational. My sister and I agreed that I would care for her coming child. For the last six years I have cared, full-time, for several children. After my niece went into daycare part-time, I started to care for another family's child. When both mothers gave birth to their second children, I chose to work full-time for my sister once again. These years have been the richest in my life. I love watching newborns become toddlers and then children. There have been bumps and bruises, tantrums and rebellions, but there have also been break through moments and those are golden. While I have always been interested in becoming a teacher, these last six years have made me realize how much I would like to be one.
The off-campus program at Lesley University has wonderful flexibility with the scheduling arrangements for working adults and with course structure. Learning, in an interactive format, will not only allow me to learn by doing, which how I prefer to learn, but also provide me with an environment to view how my classmates learn and teach. I look forward to meeting my future cohorts as we journey together on our path to our masters degrees and our anticipated future careers.
Thanks for the editing, Soz and Heeven!
I'd caught some of those misspellings on previous posts, but then forgot to transfer the corrections when I went back to whatever program I was working in which doesn't have a spell check. The capitalization thing on place names always throws me.
I'll correct it all tomorrow, do the federal financial aid thing and then I will have my application complete.
The financial aid thing is still hanging me up a bit.....
You're a shoo in - or is it shoe in? Whichever, what could be better than a low income who already has one degree, and wants to teach?
Maybe someone already said that. I just drop in from time to time.
when I first started this process, I thought so too, Roger. It didn't dawn on me that they might not accept me until I started writing this essay. Funny, that.
Littlek, your letter is a winner! And so are you--someone said that it sounded honest and I would also add that is is thoughtful and shows that you have an excellent background already, including caring for children, probably the most important part of your background.
I don't check in often enough to follow most threads consistently, but this just keeps getting better and better. I have a mental image of you in a classroom, changing young lives for the better.
Here's to the complete application and the next steps!!!
I'm late here, k, but just want to say that I like your letter very much, too.
Good luck!
Ok, it's edited and double-spaced. Now I need to go buy some good paper.....
Teaching is in my blood. The personal quest for knowledge and the desire to teach pervades the fabric of my family, even infusing those of us who are not
teachers. I spent many years educating myself through life experience before deciding I wanted to make educating others my career.
While growing up in a homogenous suburb of Boston, I felt that my young life was not a well-rounded one. Even in elementary school, I felt a strong desire to
expand my horizons. I remember a project in sixth grade in which we learned about Native American traditons and culture. During that project, I made several
Native American tools out of clay: an awl, a crescent blade and a mano-matate set. This one project had a huge effect on my future. I went on to college where I
self-designed a major in anthropology, combining sociology and geography. During the summer before my senior year I spent eight weeks in Utah on an
archeological dig. My world began to expand.
I wanted to experience the West in a deeper way. I wanted to learn about different ethnic groups, various landscapes and socio-political structures. I jumped at
jobs which allowed to me to interact with locals and learn about local cultures. I drove to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and took a job at a cafe where I could meet and
interact with people from all over New Mexico and travelers from abroad as well. I also worked at an import store for a Morrocan man and his Basque wife.
From this couple I learned about the history of the spanish control over both Morroco and the bulk of the Basque lands. I listened to my boss haggle with
traders from Pakistan and Afghanistan. From the area, itself, I learned about the the Spanish explorers who came up from Mexico and the Native Americans
whom they met in that area now known as New Mexico. I visited old Spanish churches and Pueblo and Anasazi ruins. The history there was inescapable.
From the Southwest, I drove to the South, where history was also inescapable. Here was a different story, the story of slavery and the Civil War. In Georgia, I
continued to take jobs of a service nature where I could meet people. My time in Georgia taught me to stand up for myself and others in the face of lingering
bigotry. Prejudice of all kinds still lingers in the North, but I found it to be more obvious in the South. While living there, after ten years of living out of state, I
started to miss my family and New England and decided to move back home.
I wanted to do something truly rewarding, as well as educational. My sister and I agreed that I would care for her coming child. For the last six years I have
cared, full-time, for several children. After my niece went into daycare part-time, I started to care for another family's child. When both mothers gave birth to
their second children, I chose to work full-time for my sister once again. These years have been the richest in my life. I love watching newborns become
toddlers and then children. There have been bumps and bruises, tantrums and rebellions, but there have also been break through moments and those are
golden. While I have always been interested in becoming a teacher, these last six years have made me realize how much I would like to be one.
The off-campus program at Lesley University has wonderful flexibilty in scheduling for working adults and in course structure. Learning in an interactive format
will allow me to not only learn by doing, which how I prefer to learn, but also to see how my classmates learn and teach. I look forward to meeting my future
cohorts as we journey together on our path to our masters degrees and our anticipated future careers.
this is how my neatly double spaced doc printed - How do I go about fixing it?
littlek,
What are you using for an editor?? Word, Wordperfect ???
Anon
littlek wrote:this is how my neatly double spaced doc printed - How do I go about fixing it?
I wish I could suggest something, k, but generally my typing & spacing just stay where I placed them. Baffling.
Three cheers and a schwing to the left.
Oh, the pleasure's all mine, teach.
