Monday, February 16, 2015

My Purpose in Pursuing Education

I am applying to Marquette University and Alverno College to receive my teaching certificate in English Secondary Education. I hope to start school again this August. Enjoy reading my Statement of Purpose for Marquette University. My statement for Alverno will be posted tomorrow.



The injustices of urban education in an impoverished area overwhelmed me during my first month of teaching in an urban compound, or slum, in Lusaka, Zambia. My school’s resources are limited to a chalkboard and one textbook per subject per teacher. My students are excellent scribes but poor readers with almost zero critical thinking skills. My fellow teachers barely get paid, thus attributing to a lack of dedication. My students are perpetually late or absent because of issues like chores or unsupportive parents. In short, my students in Zambia are stuck in a cycle of poverty, a cycle that separates people of color from whites, and traps the former in an education system without resources and with bleak hopes for transformation. This challenge is neither new nor unique to Africa.
The saddest part of this experience has been realizing that I waited so long to confront these issues. It took this born-and-bred Wisconsin girl twenty-four years and thousands of miles to dive into these issues at a personal and relational level. I didn’t need to wait that long. I could have driven fifteen minutes from my childhood home in Wauwatosa to inner city Milwaukee to find another school with children of color, lacking in resources, and living in poverty. I cannot let my transformative time in Zambia stop now. I need to go back to my own country, my own state, and my own home and work for justice there. I want to be an urban teacher in Milwaukee.  
            I want to get my teaching certificate in English Secondary Education because I want to do social justice work with individuals and simultaneously have a hand and heart in advocacy. As a high school English teacher in urban Milwaukee I will bring justice to each student by offering each and every one a quality education informed by a curriculum inclusive to all facets of identity, from women, people of color, to the LGBTQ community. I will have a hand and heart in advocacy by getting involved in my community, including but not limited to district or statewide level positions or organizations. I hope I can empower my students to change the world while also being brave enough to advocate for them though published writings, lobbying the state government, or leading education non-profit organizations.
I am committed to urban education in response to the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families recent report, which declared Wisconsin the worst state in the nation in caring for the “well-being” of African American children. My state can do better than this. I want to help Wisconsin take issues of race and equal education more seriously. First I will get my teaching certification. Then I will work in the classroom. After getting a masters degree in education administration or policy, I will continue in the classroom while taking my fight for better education and equal opportunities into school board rooms, the state capital, and education advocacy agencies.

            I want an education from Marquette University because I want a graduate program committed to urban education and social justice. I want an education committed to creating effective urban teachers who respond to historical and sociological facets of diverse education settings. I want to critically and compassionately assess the world around me. I want to be a hopeful leader who is brave enough to dive into relationships with those who are different than me and help all unite to transform our communities. The classroom is a window into examining reality and stepping-stone into changing it. I want Marquette University to take me to that window and onto that stepping-stone.

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