“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
-Nelson Mandela
As a child growing up, my parents knew and stressed the importance of education. They
always did what they could to make sure I got the best education possible. This did not mean
always attending the best or top rated schools, as those where schools that we either could not
afford or for which we found ourselves in the wrong neighborhood to attend.
I experienced many different types of schools, from a private Christian school to an inner
city low income public school, and completed my secondary education in an inner ring suburban
public school. Each experience had a different impact on my life and is one of the reasons why I
would like to teach in a low income school.
My first day at my inner city public school I was very scared. I had no idea what to
expect. How would the other students treat me? Were the teachers going to be nice? Would they
really care about my education?
You see, from my previous years (I was a third grader when I transferred) I had been told
by some teachers and adults, how bad and unproductive inner city schools were. It had even
been used as a threat by some of my teachers that “if we didn’t do what she was telling us to do,
we would be kicked out and be forced to go to public school.” Forced to go…. as if it was a last
resort that no one in their right mind, would ever choose.
After getting over my fears, my inner city public school has had an impact on me beyond
any other experience. I not only enjoyed the school, but benefited from it. It was in this inner city
low-income school that I met teachers who were not just nice, but competent and regularly went
the extra mile to feed my curiosity and recognize gifts that I did not even know I had. It was in
this inner city low-income school that I developed friendships that will last me a lifetime.