Why I Want To Teach For America

I seek to join Teach For America for many reasons. One of the most prominent reasons I wish to join this organization is to give back to my community and communities similar to it. Being raised in inner-city Cleveland, I have seen many teachers come and go, and very few of those teachers were raised in the inner-city. Since I was raised in the inner-city, I feel as if I have a better understanding of the struggles that my students may have, and will be able to give them advice that I wish that I had at their age.
Another reason I wish to join Teach For America is because I miss the classroom. As an Education minor in college, I have over 100 hours of in-field experience teaching in the classroom. Since my first field experience in a fifth grade classroom, I have longed to see my own students’ smiles when they understand a concept for the first time or to help them when they become frustrated with a problem they do not think they will be able to solve. During one of my student-teaching experiences, I helped students create their own stories, and seeing the fun that they had creating their own worlds made me realize that teaching was something that I wanted to do in the coming years after.
When I first graduated college, I decided that I would go back to school for a Master’s in Education, but, because of financial responsibilities, I will not have the funds to go back to school and work full-time. My goals are to be able to work and live comfortably while supporting my mother who has struggled, living in poverty with a minimum wage job as a single mother of three. These are my three most important reasons for joining Teach For