Oh the changes I would make if I were to write these again. I can't figure out how to password protect this entry, and can't be bothered right now, so I just truncated some names. Hello, world, enjoy. Hello, Brie, here's what I submitted, and good luck. Here for you if you have questions.
Letter of Intent
Dear T-- for A-- Selection Committee:
T-- for A-- appeals to my interest in confronting inequality and my desire to develop educational skills. My parents buried a stillborn child during my junior year of high school. He was buried in “Babyland,” the area of the cemetery where the youngest children rest. The headstones on either side of my baby brother’s grave were in Spanish, as were many of the surrounding headstones. I supposed that their babies were more susceptible because the Hispanic community had less access to preventative health care. The injustice I observed solidified an interest in opposing inequality that had long been developing.
I have been searching for a profession that will allow me to express this desire to combat inequality. I attended a recent lecture by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings where she promoted teaching as an appropriate career for bright students who want to make a difference. While I had been considering T-- for A-- for several years, Secretary Spelling’s comments helped me recognize how to make a meaningful contribution to the development of both education and society.
Being a corps member would also provide fundamental training for my future profession. I aspire to become a principal, one intimately acquainted with the challenges involved in education and the concerns of students and teachers. My experiences with T-- for A-- would grant me the awareness necessary to influence policy.
As a corps member, I would hope to help develop in the students a sense of agency in their lives. I want them to own acumen and power to pursue goals, to define their lives rather than simply accept what lot life gives them. I hope to help them disbelieve in the impossible that is imposed by external limitations— for example, low income. A student who senses his own influence will choose to participate in civil society and contribute to a healthy community. Students will develop this sense of agency largely incrementally as they understand the world, learn to think independently, and express ideas through writing.
I also look forward to interacting with individual students, coming to know their personalities, needs, and motivations. Thus I may see the students for who they are, as well as the underlying cause of problems they may face. By understanding my students, I can preclude prejudice and effectively help them through challenges. I also hope to build relationships of trust with their parents and communicate what I expect of their children.
In sum, I want to be involved in T-- for A-- because I subscribe to its mission. Education is not a commodity, tradable to the extent of students’ purchasing power; children in low-income communities need not be impoverished. President Woodrow Wilson once said, “There is a happy coincidence between the spirit of learning and the true spirit of American life. Learning knows no differences of social caste or privilege...Genius comes into what family it pleases, and laughs at the orders of society, takes delight in humble origins, and yet will appear in palaces." I want this to be true in America.
Sincerely,
Savanna
Obstacles Essay
Finding in Frankstown
As an official representative of my church, I worked in Victoria, Australia. My purpose as a missionary was to present our message of faith, giving individuals opportunity to accept it through joining the church. Our message especially benefited those connected as families. Most missionaries generally approached the challenge of finding people to teach by knocking on doors, speaking with people on the street, and contacting referrals. I was urgently, acutely aware of the need to plan better finding activities specifically suited to the unique character of each area where I worked. Frankstown was one of these areas.
I arrived in Frankstown to a teaching pool that needed to be replenished, but finding people to teach was difficult. Prejudice against the church had been so pervasive that one missionary was pushed from his bicycle regularly. Passengers of cars rolled down windows to shout insults at us. I supposed that a misunderstanding of the church caused this prejudice, but did not know how to address it.
The question became a recurring subject of study and prayer. In my search for a remedy I encountered advice given to church leaders in its early history: “I have…many people in this city, whom I will gather…through your instrumentality. Therefore…you should form acquaintance with men in this city.” I decided to increase our visibility by offering service in the community, hoping to both form acquaintance with people that I could teach and mitigate prejudice.
After presenting the idea to my companion, she and I went to work, intent on finding people to serve. We visited P--, who had ordered a DVD. P-- and her friend, A--, were discussing her move to Adelaide. Suffering from various ailments, they worried that they were physically unable to prepare for the move. My companion and I immediately recognized our opportunity. We promised to return two days later with several colleagues; P-- and A-- promised sandwiches.
Together we packed the house and loaded the van. P-- departed for Adelaide, leaving A-- to clean the house for inspection. Again we saw an opportunity and returned in the morning. At the end of the day, we sat on the kitchen floor with A--, another friend, T.J., and T.J.’s children, K-- and K--. The children knew little about Christianity but wanted to learn more. They became our new family to teach.
I had wonderful times teaching this family. A-- occasionally joined us, always affirming that while she respected our beliefs, she had her own. She invited us over for her Christmas barbecue but I was soon transferred from the area, leaving another missionary to continue the work in Frankstown.
I found out months after leaving Australia that A-- requested the missionary lessons and joined the church. This represented the ultimate reward for a missionary’s efforts. I am not certain whether the community-wide prejudice subsided, but I saw individual lives improve. Success came from thoughtfully considering what the area needed, isolating the cause of the problem, boldly making sacrifices, and deliberately pursuing the course toward resolution.
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