September 04, 2019

Junior year and I am 16 years old with a job over at a daycare with aspirations to become a
teacher. Freshman year at the end of the year, I had discovered VTFT through the awards assembly
and immediately knew that I wanted to join that course. In the blink of an eye, I am sitting in VTFT
part 1 my sophomore year. Next thing I know, I am in my internship at my former elementary school,
Ocean Lakes Elementary. The days at which I attended my internship were some of the best days
of my life. For example, my first lesson plan, which had taken me three hours and a headache to
complete, went extremely well. ALL the children loved it and had smiles on their faces once they had
completed what they were assigned successfully the first time around. It was moments like that which
set my path in stone even further. Thus leading me to this chair here in VTFT part 2, writing this
letter.

“It’s choice, not chance, which determines our identity”

Life is like a shopping mall. Hundreds of stores to shop at, hundreds of garments and items to
pick from, and endless possibilities in general honestly. What is bought is what I chose to buy, my
choice and mine only. Either the items benefit me or don’t benefit me in the long run. Either way, the
outcome is a direct result of my decisions, my choices. One of the many decisions of which I have
made in my lifetime is to take this course. I took this course because of my strong desire to teach in the
future. Year one, part one of the course went by extremely fast and left me with many lessons learned
many new experiences & observations, and a lot of new knowledge. It was an extremely enjoyable year
and set further in stone my wish to teach. Which leads me back in the same classroom, different seat,
and same block as last year but year two, part two of the course. I am back to have that full-year
internship, to gain even more knowledge, learn even more than I did last year, and to just enjoy what it
is like to be a teacher, once more, from a different aspect. I am extremely excited to see what this year
shall bring.

“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by
reflection”

During my internship last year, I most definitely had my hardships. Classroom management,
speaking up when I have questions. and the deliverance of my lesson plans were definitely the major
ones. No matter how good I am with children, when it comes down to actually teaching and managing
the classroom, it is not such an easy task. Lesson planning was not as much of a struggle as delivering
it was. Both my lesson plans went extremely well, however, both times, speaking up was my downfall.
Which makes it extremely easy to believe, and probably guess (haha), that classroom management was

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another area I struggled in. In fact, it is the number one area in which I struggle. I am not that assertive
and outspoken when it comes to a group of people. I tend not to speak up and not be as stern as I
need to be. Being mean and using the voice is something I don’t like to do so I am not very mature in
that area, but I am most definitely learning. This year I will try to improve in that area, and the others,
by speaking up, asking questions a lot more often, push fears aside, and the like.

“In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts
of trivia”

Last year, mistakes were made and I was not where I wanted to be academically as far as my
AP class went. However, I did get an academic letter, so it wasn’t that bad. This year I want to meet
the goals I had for myself last year and I will work even harder to achieve my goals. These goals
include making Principal’s List at least once or twice this year, receiving another academic letter,
getting into NHS, and passing both of my AP exams with a 4 or 5. These are my goals because I
have nothing but high standards for my academic life. I know I am smart and can achieve those things
and that I HAVE to achieve these things in order to get into the college of my dreams. If I do not
achieve these this year, I would be absolutely devastated and honestly have no idea what I would do
about it at that point in time. However, I am going to make darn sure that I do not fail at reaching
those goals. There is no exceptions this year. This is my junior year, the year that will reflect most to
my colleges, I HAVE to do even better than I have before.

“So today I ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to
solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or
fifty or one hundred years say about what… .you did for this country?”

There are many ways in which I could answer these questions but my answer for all of them in
a one-word summary would be teaching. Through teaching I can make a difference in a child’s life, I
can help others, I can help a child find their dreams, and so much more. I can make a difference, solve
problems, and do something for this country as a teacher. And as a teacher, I can help a student
answer these same questions by helping them every step of the way to get their work done, make good
grades, and help them find their heart’s true desire. Being for a child every step of the way, helping
them out as often as possible is all they need to be able to answer these questions.

Life is always one unknown after the other, however, there are things that are known, such as
our hair color, our dreams, our shoe size, our grade, and the like. For example, I know that I want to go
into teaching. I KNOW that there are courses I can take and opportunities which I can snatch to
help me build a phenomenal resume filled with a background in childcare so that I am more appealing to

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my future employer, and VTFT is just one of those stepping-stones to becoming a teacher. Not one
moment has gone by that I regret joining, I am extremely satisfied with my choice. This choice is most
definitely one for the books.