I want to be a teacher because I appreciate the great value of education. Throughout high school, education was never a top priority for me. Only during the past two years, at college, have I realized the importance of education. Instead of letting hard subjects discourage me, as they used to, I have learned to turn my frustrations into hard work and determination. As a teenager, my social activities consumed my life. My friend swore not motivated to do well in school. Unfortunately, I followed their lead. My grades were very low, and I did not even care. As I grew older and lost touch with my old friends, I decided to focus on my education. I enrolled in Burlington County College. There, I chose to associate with people who worked hard. My peers at Burlington have influenced me to strive to do the best I can academically. Math has always been a very difficult subject for me. I would often get frustrated doing problems, and would end up throwing down the book and giving up. When I got to college, I realized that math would inevitably be a part of my life and that I would have to find a way to get through it. The motivating environment at college has enabled me to relax and work through the problems. I now find math to be one of my easier subjects and I even enjoy its challenging aspects. My own roller-coaster ride with school has made me want to be a teacher. I have reflected on the factors that made me fail in my early years of education, and I think one major factor was my teachers. My disinterest in grades was obvious in high school, and all my teachers seemed content with it. I feel that if someone had sat me down and explained the importance of school, or even just attempted to make learning more interesting, I might have become more motivated. As an elementary school teacher, I hope to make learning fun for my students. It is my goal to ease the students' frustrations as best I can. I would like my students to see me as not only their teacher, but as someone they can talk to and feel comfortable with. My experience at college has proved to me that I am capable of doing well. Not only do I have the ability to succeed, but I also now have the confidence. I know how important education is in all aspects of one's life, and I want to share that knowledge with others.