Sudden departures are good fodder for deeper thinking. I learned this the hard way when a neighbor’ s father passed away last year in an accident. Mr. Adams was a man of few words. He worked hard for his family for most of their lives, in a job that although provided well for their future was not what he really wanted in life. His sudden passing brought a halt to his plans to volunteer in rebuilding one of the community’s shelters, as he had an unknown skill at being a good craftsman and was a compassionate being at heart. This has spurned in me the realization that life should not be spent waiting for that chance to be happy. Although my current job has substantially provided for me, I feel a certain dissatisfaction from not being able to do what I really want. I realized that it was time for a change greater than a radically different haircut. I needed to make a career move towards the direction that I have wandered away from.
A path towards the teaching profession was what I envisioned when I was in my undergraduate years, but I postponed going in that direction for the past two years while working in a corporate setting. But looking back, it was in my internship period as a teaching assistant that I felt the happiest and the most content. I decided that it was time I return to my roots and embark on a path to be an educator. I feel that as a teacher I can help mold young minds and provide inspiration to children in my community. I myself have mentors whom I look up to because they have helped me become the person that I am right now. This desire to help someone achieve and the proper training as an educator will help me achieve my goal.
I am now all set to devote my time and attention towards developing my skills and knowledge as a teacher and I have the undergraduate scholastic records that prove that I have been diligent enough as a student. I am comfortable when speaking to a group of people, and having the proper training can help me address a classroom full of youths someday. The classroom is always full of students from differing backgrounds, and I can relate to them being from a family of immigrants from Chile. Though I am fluent in Spanish and English, my parents had a hard time mastering a language that was different from what they were used to. Eventually, with the help of others, they learned quickly and have been able to converse and understand the new country they were in. I want to make the same difference as the people who taught my parents English have, that with the proper knowledge, one can be able to rise up from challenges. I want my future students to be aware that they can be as great as they want to be, in whichever path they choose. Hopefully, they won’t have to wait for things to happen, and that they grab every chance they get to do what they were meant to do, as I have and will be once I get the chance to be a true educator.
Thank you for your consideration.
Photo Credit : ricardo.martins
“All for one, one for all!” This is the famous battlecry of the legendary Three Musketeers, a movie I’ve seen as a kid. And when you’re in public service, especially in the defense of the people against crime, this should also be your life’s motto.
As you might have surmised, it was my being an avid fan of d’Artagnan that sparked my interest in the field of crime prevention. With the ingenuity of d’Artagnan and the musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Artemis in solving cases of misdeed, I took up a bachelor of science degree in criminology at Regis University and finished it in four years with flying colors. My research papers then were mostly phenomenologies on the lives of both defense agents and criminals, on which I have to do some risky undercover work especially on my studies involving criminals who are in hiding. The most exciting research work for me was the one about pirates, wherein I disguised as a fellow pirate who sells smuggled computers, goes to movie houses with a hidden camera, and connives with Customs officials to “hide” my “illegal” operation. For this endeavor, I had to consult and get proper clearances and help from the FBI and the Customs Bureau. My efforts ultimately led to the arrest of some ten people involved in big-time smuggling and piracy in Colorado.
After graduation, I got a job slot at the United States Bureau of Customs as an inspector. My job as a customs inspector taught me a lot of things. First and foremost is integrity. There are so many temptations to stray from your anti-graft and corruption vow when you are in Customs, so I have to constantly keep in mind that whatever I do, be it something that’s in line with the regulations or not, it will have an adverse effect not just to me or my reputation but to many people and the institution’s reputation as well. Another very important thing I’ve learned as a Customs inspector is, the welfare of the public, the citizens, always comes first. So, we have to follow government rules and laws, make sure that
culprits are clapped in jail, and that my fellow Americans also abide by the rules. In short, real public service.
Now, with the desire to serve my people better, I intend to take up a Master’s degree in criminology at the Florida State University. Taking up and finishing a Master’s degree alongside the bachelor’s degree in criminology that I already have will enable me to get to a higher position where I will be tasked to train inspectors and oversee operations. This will indeed help me fulfill my responsibilities better.
Photo Credit : robwest
This was my impression when I had my first European language class with Mr. Sabio, an Italian who happens to be an expert in most European languages. The first language that he taught me, naturally, was in Italian. After almost a year of Italian language lessons, conjugations, listening, and speaking practices, Mr. Sabio asked me if I’m going to continue the course. Unfazed with the question, I said yes. This “yes” answer enabled me to finish the six-year Romance language course in Mr. Sabio’s international school and be able to fluently speak and write in Italian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Latin, with the inclusion of Greek, Dutch and Celtic languages such as Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, and Irish.
Personally, I really think the moniker “Romance languages” fits European languages very well. This is because European languages are really very beautiful; they have a character all their own. They have a version of a word for every gender and number, and it really takes skill and an artistic attitude to be able to pronounce them clearly. But then, while I was doing the course, many people including my friends criticized me, especially because not many people here in my little hometown in New York really appreciated other languages. Most of them are families of truck drivers whose only real ambition in life is to survive each day of their lives. I am the son of a truck driver, too, but I’m not like them. I am the type of person who wants to make a difference wherever he goes. I believe this was best exemplified by a couple of theses that I made while I was still in international language school as well as the campaigns I did as a European language translator and researcher when I finished language school. These were basically about the promotion of the “minor” yet promising European languages in international language schools, such as Catalan, Galician, Slavic, Indo-European, Indo-Aryan, and the Germanic languages. Fortunately, my family, a bunch of really proactive people, supported me along the way. This support has been key in helping me attain awards such as European Language Award in learning, a New York version of the Nobel peace and literature prizes, and two honorary Master’s degrees in European languages and European communication technologies.
Right now, I intend to take up a doctor’s degree in modern European languages at the University of Phoenix in the state of Iowa. The reason behind is primarily to further improve my research skills, especially now that I am planning on putting up my own European languages school in my little hometown in New York. I am proud yet humbled to say that my efforts have actually inspired quite a number of young people in my neighborhood to appreciate and seek further studies in European languages. The main focus of the school that I will be putting up is research, just like what we did in Mr. Sabio’s school. And I hope that, someday, I can make an impact in the lives of my future students just as Mr. Sabio made an impact in mine when he first taught me Italian.
Photo Credit : davekellam
Infrastructure has, since time immemorial, always fascinated me. Back in first grade in my little hometown at Canberra, I remember gazing with fondness at the buildings, the houses, the highways, and the bridges, wondering how they were made, wishing I could, someday, be able to put to rise such useful structures as these. My parents would buy me Lego toys to play with when I was a kid. Come high school, I would do small carpenter jobs for my neighbors for a few dollars. I remember vividly how my Lego toys and my carpentry tools give me joy whenever I tinker with them, sans the fact that I am a girl and these things are no girly stuff. These inspired me to seek for a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at Sydney Institute four years ago. It was a whole lot different from the toys and the tools I fiddled with when I was younger. I found that, aside from engineering equipment, I also have to be equipped with books, attitude, and an unwavering faith in myself and in the greatest Engineer of all time. I was able to finish the course with flying course and land a job as a junior engineer in a private construction firm. Our company is behind the construction and renovation of many business establishments in the City, including the famous Viewing Tower and St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney.
But what really made me want to pursue further studies in the field were not the engineering instruments nor the books, but my six-year-old nephew. He seems to be following in my footsteps: his dad, my elder brother, would also always gift him with Lego toys since the kid is apparently hooked with construction things, too. One day, I joined the little boy in playing with his Lego toys and we started talking about our passion for building monuments just like Telstra Tower and the Parliament or the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in Sydney. As the day ended, he said these words, words that served to change the course of my life: “You know what, I wish I can be like you, Auntie, when I grow up.” My insight: Seeing kids who have the same passion as you have for instituting edifices that outlast a lifetime is already a very stirring thing. But witnessing them wanting to be just like you is another matter. That made me want to be a professor of civil engineers at Sydney Institute. To qualify for my desired position, I need to have at least a master’s degree. So, I pursued a master’s research degree at the University of Canberra. And, just as I have done with my bachelor’s degree, with passion, perseverance, and patience, I was able to successfully breeze through my Master’s and land a teaching job at the Institute.
Now, I am on the verge of taking up a doctor’s degree in civil engineering research in the same University. My aim is to gain more knowledge, expertise, and research experience so that I can come up with more contributions to the field that I have come to love and grow up with.
Photo Credit : timtom.ch
