Finding My Passion by Gabriella

Finding My Passion by Gabriella - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

From a young age, I always knew that helping others was my passion. I loved seeing my peers' faces light up when I could do something for them that would take them a while to complete on their own. When the time came to start researching careers that interested me, I was overwhelmed with the options. I had my heart set on being a pediatric nurse, but I was never really interested in the medical field, only working with kids and offering my services to make families and kids happy.

During my sophomore year in high school, I signed up for my school district's Teacher Prep program. I never had an interest in becoming a teacher, but the benefits of the program were too good to turn down. Halfway through the program, we had the opportunity to teach at an elementary school down the street. At first, I was terrified because I believed that teaching five- and six-year-olds would be extremely difficult. This was a real child's education, and what a child learns in kindergarten sparks the rest of their lives, big or small. I quickly realized that these were eager students who were ecstatic to be working with the “big kids. As soon as we started working in small groups, we all jumped to introducing ourselves and immediately started asking questions about these kids and what they are excited about. Seeing them follow along with our rules and teaching styles was amazing. It wasn’t till our third session with the kinders that I realized that I was good at teaching and communicating with these young scholars. I quickly gained confidence in myself and started amping up my role as a student teacher. I purchased fun stickers and stamps for the student to earn as a reward. I played interactive games with them during the lessons and recess. I got to see multiple sides of their personalities and create personal relationships with these kids. 

At the end of my first teaching experience, I discovered that my newfound strength of teaching was going to be my future. Seeing the joy in that kindergarten class made my day and filled me with joy. I was happy my skills were going towards good things in life, things that can make a difference in someone's life.