Why do I want to be a California Teacher?

I had to write a one page essay for the teaching program I'm trying to get into. If I make the font a little smaller, this is one page long. Enjoy!
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Sean as a Special Education Teacher

I like to watch people succeed at the goals they have set for themselves. That is the simplest answer as to why I want to become a California teacher teaching special education. There is no other reason why I can think of becoming a Special Education Teacher. I have seen the joy, power and courage that come from success and I want to help as many as I can obtain those experiences.

I suppose a little history would be beneficial. I started my teaching experience in special education while I was a junior in high school. I was a volunteer one period a day in a resource classroom working with students with learning difficulties. My junior year I spent helping out various students with various subjects. My senior year was a little different. I was assigned to work one on one with Jason. I was supposed to help him in math and history. All year long we struggled together. I would teach him over and over again the same ways of figuring out an equation. Each day we would end feeling like we were exactly where we started. Then one day, something changed and Jason slowly began to understand the way to solve for x. He looked so happy the day he finally got a “C” on his test. He was at first going to give up, but now he was encouraged to work on the next set of equations. By the end of my senior year he had progressed so much it was unbelievable.

Following high school I worked for a market researcher. I was good at what I did, but I wasn’t happy. After a few years I returned to my old district looking to volunteer. They offered me a paid substitute position instead. I spent most of the next five months substituting at a pre-school for speech-disabled children. Some students weren’t native English speakers, while others suffered from deeper problems: Autism. I worked with the full range of students. Some would sit quietly when they didn’t know what to say. Others preferred to bite me when they got frustrated. While I was there I learned patience, practice, and quick reflexes. I’m not sure the success each student had, but I know that they are farther along because teachers cares for them than when they were at other pre-schools.

After a short time in Arizona, I returned to California to teach summer school for my old district. There were two periods in the day and it was a “sheltered” classroom. The first period was history and they other was English. For the second period I was a one on one to a student with cerebral palsy and a learning disability. Each day I would help him write essays that would be turned in as a collection of writing he needed to pass high school. As I worked one on one with his I saw power he gained in each piece of work. Each essay he got a little better. Each essay he began to see that, while he struggled, he wasn’t incapable of writing good essays. He told me that he never knew he could write like this before. At the end of the summer, he did end up passing high school, but, more importantly, he knew the power he had in writing. He could write well and he liked that power.

My latest education experience was working at another high school in Walnut Creek. I worked with a young man named Francisco. Born in Mexico, and now in the US, his family originally thought he was put in special education because he didn’t teach English. Even with broken English, though, Francisco was still a little slow. After being diagnosed with a low IQ, Francisco was sent to work with me. We worked on his English and his reading skills. I know very little Spanish and he only knew broken English, so at times it was a struggle. However, in the end we were able to find common ground and he was able to learn a little bit about reading and writing. I know the power, joy and courage that can be found in teaching young people like Francisco. I know that I feel good when I help others succeed. And I know I can do that for California. This is why I want to be a California Special Education Teacher.