After completing my bachelor’s degree, I joined Teach for America (TFA) to actively contribute to the fight for educational equity. TFA gave me the opportunity to teach youth from underserved and marginalized populations. I have taught many different types of students of various ethnicities as well as those who suffer from poverty, single-parent households, learning disabilities, behavioral issues, and more. To my surprise, I ended up loving the school environment and finding my passion for enriching the lives of our youth, specifically at-risk youth. Being an advocate for my students was a top priority, and being a liaison between parents, students, and administration is something I had become accustomed to. Yet I knew my position as a teacher only allowed me the limited opportunity to gather clues and hints to help my students work through academic, emotional, and social issues. Although I helped create academic growth, curb behavior problems, and became a therapist …show more content…
My hope is to cultivate an inclusive school environment, where I help teachers, parents, and administration build partnerships. Building these partnerships and helping develop programs will hopefully help me start a non-profit, which is not only a career object but a life goal of mine. I want to serve the low income/ at-risk youth population by providing services like remediation and enrichment, behavioral interventions, individual and family counseling, mentors, exploratory and educational trips, and summer camps. As an African American female with a strong ethnic identity, I have struggled to overcome subtle and negative effects of discrimination experienced in the classroom. This can erode self-confidence and lower motivation, but guidance or exposure to an optimistic voice can empower. Therefore, I believe that with the right networking and hands-on mentoring I can impact the next