A Key Question

Last weekend, my sister Cindy asked me a question that lingered in me for awhile. It was "Don't you miss teaching?" And, I didn't hesitate at all and I answered, "YES." I miss the interaction and connection with students. Those are the things one remembers most. She also asked me about my plans ahead and I shared every detail with her. In fact, when it comes to Cindy, I share everything with her. When we were in our 20's, we used to take weekly 6-mile walks together around Lake Merced. It was our ritual. Now, in our 30's, our ritual is sleepovers at her house when her husband is away on business trips. Those moments are so precious to me. I shared with Cindy my educational philosophy and goals of which I expressed in a Statement of Purpose in which I spent 2 weeks writing and revising from mid-October to November 1,2008, for the Graduate School Application. It's one of the most revealing and deepest piece of writing I've done. Hope it earns me a spot in the school and keeps me grounded for always. Hope you enjoy reading:

Statement of Purpose

I am a young Chinese American woman who grew up in San Francisco, California. I am
especially interested in doing graduate work in the Masters of Education Program with a focus on Equity and Social Justice. I am a teacher. I enjoy the process of teaching and learning and like the teacher/student relationship. My first real teacher was my father. I learned from him that the value of an education was not only to get a job but to also affect positive change in life. I am often inspired by him because he was notably the first and only child out of ten children to have earned a University degree in his family. One positive effect he had on his family was that he sponsored his seven siblings to America from Hong Kong. He dealt with the extensive paperwork, provided initial housing, counseled and coached them throughout the acculturation process with ‘evening discussions’ at the
dining room table. As a little girl, I saw the value and privilege of an education in my father and his obligation to affect positive change in his own door. That is my underlying fuel for my passion to dedicate myself to the life’s work of teaching and contributing to the process of education.

I earned my Single Subject Preliminary California Teaching Credential in 2002 and have taught in the San Francisco Unified District for two years. My core subjects were 9th Grade World Literature, 10th Grade Ethnic Literature and 11th Grade American Literature. I have a cosmopolitan, creative and innovative sensibility which I apply to my lesson planning and teaching methods particularly with the diverse classes at George Washington High School. I gained an enormous sense of satisfaction, from the spark of interest of young minds in English to building rapport and trust with my students and between students, and their showing me their willingness to try harder. Shortly after, as a result of district budget cuts, I was consolidated. However, even with that unfortunate decision, I learned from my students to try harder and never give up on my passion toward my life’s work of
teaching.

In the last 4 years I worked as a NET (Native-English Speaking Teacher) under the Hong Kong Government’s NET Scheme. I taught at CCC Ming Yin College, a government-aided Band 1 secondary school. Students were gifted and came from Shek Kip Mei, one of the most economically disadvantaged sections of Hong Kong. At Hong Kong, I viewed my role in education with enthusiasm but with seriousness. Most students at Ming Yin viewed the English Language as ‘foreign’ in their world. I vowed to change their perception. With an incredibly heavy workload, I developed stamina and energy and utilized my creativity to design, create and execute an English Oral Program for the school. Some of the activities included a creative writing workshop for juniors, product design presentations for seniors, junior and senior class spelling bees, intra-class and inter-school oral exchanges, poetry recitations and a junior team of choral speakers for the annual HK Speech Festival who respectively finished 3rd in 2006. Even though these kinds of activities demanded funds, time and attention from me and the students, I saw how much it had contributed to the students’ educational process. At Hong Kong, the effectiveness of teaching and learning is traditionally measured in test and exam marks. As much as I value practical results, I also stress on the teaching and learning process. Through the latter paradigm, I believe the teacher and students could learn to think outside of the box, collaborate with each other to build structure and create meaning, and support each other to learn. After teaching at Hong Kong, I wish to refine the
teaching and learning process with further graduate studies.

I was raised for much of my life in San Francisco and I consider California to be
home. I earned a B.A. degree in English: Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. My first choice for graduate study is my beloved alma mater, for its diversity, sound reputation in the area of education and its geographical location. I hope to do graduate work in the Masters of Education Program with a focus on Equity and Social Justice. I hope to open an educational institution in the future. In my graduate studies, I wish to explore questions that deal with how government and society affect education and how teaching and learning can be enhanced? Furthermore, how do we ensure that young people get the best education possible in the direction of globalization? I am someone with a great zeal for educating the community’s young people. I also feel that it is of crucial importance to embrace and celebrate diversity and focus on how can I better serve my student populations. As my father has shown me, education entails privilege, responsibility and obligation within the individual and society and to be an agent of change in our own doors. I want to thank you for consideration of
my application.