My Teaching Experience by Eli

My Teaching Experience by Eli - March 2026 Scholarship Essay

For the past few years, I have run a chess club for Elementary school students to teach them how to play chess. I first started it because I loved playing chess, the strategy, the patience it required, and the moments when students saw a move they couldn’t see before. Teaching them to think a few steps ahead was like solving a puzzle. It was rewarding to see how much confidence they gained while having fun.

When my uncle passed away from cancer this past summer, I briefly questioned the point of trying in life. But at his funeral, person after person spoke about the impact he had made as a doctor: the lives he had improved, the people he had taught and inspired. I realized that giving was the point, and it doesn’t have to come later in life either. My uncle was still young, yet he had already made a profound impact on so many lives. I began to see that giving back can happen now, in small, consistent ways that positively shape others' lives.

I looked forward to it more than ever, because this year I understood its purpose differently. It’s a reminder to me that real impact doesn’t always require saving a life, like my uncle did, just a genuine effort to help others grow. Each time I asked a question, almost the whole class raised their hands as high as they could, eagerly looking at me with an excitement that I was proud to be a part of. I realized I could meaningfully impact their lives in my own small way.

Each time I teach, I am reminded that growth isn’t just personal, it's shared. Watching students discover new moves or find confidence within themselves mirrors the optimism I have learned to live by. I believe that growth happens when we choose to build others up, resulting in small changes that ripple into something much larger.