Personal Statement for Grad School
Personal Statement
I recall a childhood memory. I was not much older than five or six and we moved into an apartment complex in Des Moines, Iowa. Next door there was a little girl about my age. We became close friends. One day it finally dawned on me that she was living with her grandmother and not her parents. I understood only living with one parent, because my parents had divorced, but to not live with either parent seemed very strange to me. I asked my mother why this was. Apparently she had heard from someone else in the building that the girl’s father had left and the mother “couldn’t raise her.” I asked why. I am sure the easiest answer at the time was the one my mother gave me, “She doesn’t have any money.” When I replied with, “Why doesn’t she just get a job,” my mother simply said, “There aren’t any.” My reply, too, was simple, “That’s not fair.” Little did I know I had just formed the basis for the philosophy of my life. Growing up I found myself constantly trying to “make things fair” for the people I came into contact with. When my mom remarried and found herself involved with an alcoholic, I made things “fair” for her by trying to be a model child and student. I spent endless hours doing household chores, so she was not burdened with them. As I matured into a young adult, my definition of “fair” also matured. I began thinking of ways that I could make the world a fair place and thus came the birth of my interest in education. For fairness to occur, people must being playing on equal fields. The only way to ensure fairness is to educate. Now that I am a mother and a full time teacher, I hear the word “fair” quite often. “Mom, can I borrow the car.” “Not now.” “Uh, that’s not fair.” “Mom, why does Siera get to stay out later than me?” “Because she’s 18.” “That’s not fair.” My personal goals at home are similar to my personal goals in my career. As much as I try to equal the playing field for my students or even my own
I recall a childhood memory. I was not much older than five or six and we moved into an apartment complex in Des Moines, Iowa. Next door there was a little girl about my age. We became close friends. One day it finally dawned on me that she was living with her grandmother and not her parents. I understood only living with one parent, because my parents had divorced, but to not live with either parent seemed very strange to me. I asked my mother why this was. Apparently she had heard from someone else in the building that the girl’s father had left and the mother “couldn’t raise her.” I asked why. I am sure the easiest answer at the time was the one my mother gave me, “She doesn’t have any money.” When I replied with, “Why doesn’t she just get a job,” my mother simply said, “There aren’t any.” My reply, too, was simple, “That’s not fair.” Little did I know I had just formed the basis for the philosophy of my life. Growing up I found myself constantly trying to “make things fair” for the people I came into contact with. When my mom remarried and found herself involved with an alcoholic, I made things “fair” for her by trying to be a model child and student. I spent endless hours doing household chores, so she was not burdened with them. As I matured into a young adult, my definition of “fair” also matured. I began thinking of ways that I could make the world a fair place and thus came the birth of my interest in education. For fairness to occur, people must being playing on equal fields. The only way to ensure fairness is to educate. Now that I am a mother and a full time teacher, I hear the word “fair” quite often. “Mom, can I borrow the car.” “Not now.” “Uh, that’s not fair.” “Mom, why does Siera get to stay out later than me?” “Because she’s 18.” “That’s not fair.” My personal goals at home are similar to my personal goals in my career. As much as I try to equal the playing field for my students or even my own