Five years ago, the young and practical version of myself saw higher education as an abstract dream. I knew where I stood in society’s system as a first-generation and low-income student. The challenges I faced put me in close contact with issues on education, which fostered my commitment to work in the education sector. While defying the barriers of my own circumstances, I was given the opportunity to contribute to the development of an education policy in Ecuador; a policy that continues to help Ecuadorian students obtain undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in prestigious universities around the world. This inspired me to built a career on ensuring that students from disadvantage socioeconomic and sociopolitical communities have access …show more content…
In my International Economics class I was fascinated by the development of Asian countries and their focus on educational policies with the aim of promoting economic growth. Eager to learn more about education and economic growth, I conducted research in my Econometrics class on the effects of education, population, and trade in the Ecuadorian GDP. I constructed a regression equation, which demonstrated that education is the second major contributor to the overall GDP of Ecuador compared to population and trade. Although I study educational policies through an economics lens, I felt the need to further explore the field of education. Subsequently, I applied to the Global and Urban Education Studies minor, which help me expand my knowledge on issues of education at a domestic and international …show more content…
It is my conviction that economics provide the tools and skills required to design education policies that could thoroughly address the different issues of education in developing nations. The Economics and Education Master program at Teachers College provides the ideal academic balance of these two subjects; thus, offering an academic experience tailored to my interest. If given the privilege to join the program, I will focus on the educational issues in Latin America, where despite the increase of enrollment at all grade levels, their poor academic performance endures due to lack of quality education. Therefore, the program’s strong focus on the financial, managerial, and developmental challenges faced by both developed and developing nations will allow me to gain knowledge on this subject and conduct research that address the problems in education in Latin America. Moreover, learning from leaders in the field of education will equip me with the abilities necessary to design innovative solutions, and support their implementation and assessment in a way that effectively improves access to quality