Counseling Program Essay

The last time I wrote an essay for a college application, I wrote something like, "I applied for the teaching fellows scholarship and I want to go to school at Pembroke." I was one cocky sonuvagun back when I was applying at UNCP. In some ways, I still am... but this essay seemed more important, so I took more time on it. Now that it is complete, I want to share it. This is the essay I attached to my Lenoir Rhyne application:

                I’ve been teaching English for nearly four years now, but my passion has never really been for literature or grammar. I appreciate fine literature and I scowl at poorly formed sentences, but these seem trivial compared to the work I want to do: help troubled teens on a more personal level. When my wife Jenni and I moved to Hickory, we came for two reasons: it was my hometown and Hickory Public Schools was paying for graduate courses. We had every intention of joining Appalachian graduate cohorts and pursuing our master’s degrees as we continued teaching. She began working at Grandview Middle School, while I snatched up a position at Catawba Valley High.

                When it came time to apply for college, though, I just couldn’t bring myself to go back to school for a master’s degree in English or in education. I loved working with teens, but I wasn’t passionate enough about English to continue teaching it forever, so I decided to put off the whole idea for a year. Jenni went ahead and contacted the folks at Appalachian for her own cohort, but she was diagnosed with cancer and had to postpone her graduate degree aspirations as well. As we fought the cancer, she kept telling me that I should go back to school for either counseling or sociology. I agreed to look into it when she was well and our finances improved, and the more I thought about it, the better a degree in counseling sounded. I could continue to work with troubled teens, perhaps even in the same school setting, but shed the mantle of English teacher.

                Fast forward nearly two years, and now I find myself a widowed twenty six year old man in dire need of a change in circumstances. I love where I work, but I am growing more and more discontented in my current role there. I do love the kids, but I don’t love the subject area. I believe I would be a much more valuable member of the Catawba Valley High School staff if I could contribute as a guidance counselor rather than as a teacher.

                And on a more sentimental note, I’d like to honor Jenni by accomplishing my part of the goal we set when we moved here.

My first version was long and rambled too much. This is the shortened version, and I really feel like it is probably too brief, but I just feel that brevity is more important right now for some reason. Let's hope they let me in...