My Life Purpose

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My Life’s Purpose

Keelia Swafford

Department of Education, College of Southern Idaho

Education 201 C20W: Foundations of Education

Samra Culum
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Inspiration is the first word that comes to mind when I hear the word “teacher”. Teachers

inspire every day, and create a sense of belonging within their students. Teachers foster creativity

and success that can help students realize who they are. More specifically, who they want to be

and what they want to contribute to the world. That is exactly what happened to me my freshman

year of high school in my history class. For this reason, I realized that who I wanted to become

and what I wanted to contribute to the world is becoming a teacher.

I would say that my educational experience has been relatively unique. I attended Xavier

Charter School for all twelve years of my lower education. Elementary school, middle school,

and high school were all attended in the same school. It was not the same building, as we had a

couple building changes, but it was the same group of teachers and kids for all twelve years.

Because of this, I would say that I had many unique educational experiences. It was a rigorous

college prep school, meaning academically the experiences differ than an experience at a

standard public school. There were plenty of academic benefits due to attending a charter school

for so long, and they have proven to be helpful as a college student. After graduating in May of

2019, I began attending the College of Southern Idaho in the fall. I am now in my second

semester of college at the College of Southern Idaho.

I have not had a whole lot of work and/or job experience. When I was sixteen, I applied

for a position at Golden Corral and was hired immediately. I worked there as a Line Lady, so I

got people their drinks and rang them up. I started working there in August, and then I quit

working there in April, meaning I worked there for eight months. I then got a job at a local place

called Buffalo Cafe, where I was a busser. I cleared and cleaned the tables and then set them in a

specific manner. I quit working there after about a month to focus on my schoolwork and get my

senior project done on time so that I could graduate. I did not work at all my senior year of high
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school, again so I could dedicate my time to passing all of my classes and getting my senior

project done. Currently, I work at JCPenney as a cashier, however it is extremely understaffed.

My technical title is cashier, but I am also in charge of making sure the displays are folded and

hung neatly and in correct size order. I also make sure the fitting rooms are clean and orderly.

These work experiences can contribute to my future as a teacher as it has taught me how to do

things in an organized manner, as well has helped me develop time management skills. Being

organized and being able to stick to a personalized time table is essential in a teaching career.

I did not partake in any school-organized extracurriculars as not many were offered at

Xavier. I did, however, partake in plenty outside of school. I became a girl scout at the age of

five, a “Daisy”. I continued to be a girl scout up until I was a freshman in high school, a

“Cadette”. As a girl scout, I did a lot of volunteer work. I volunteered to organize multiple girl

scout events, such as World Thinking Day. Every year we also gleaned potatoes in fields and

donated them to the Salvation Army. Outside of girl scouts, I volunteered at the Salvation Army

After School Program and the Salvation Army Summer Day Camp. I was a volunteer there for

five years. I cleaned, helped prepare food for the kids, and generally kept a watchful eye on the

kids so that chaos did not ensue. As a Girl Scout and a volunteer at the Salvation Army, I was

trying to achieve a strong work ethic as well as see if I wanted to have a future that involved

working with children. Overall the experience at the Salvation Army was extremely rewarding, I

developed a strong work ethic and the relationships formed with the kids made me feel as if my

life had purpose. My time volunteering at the Salvation Army was extremely beneficial in the

long run because it made me get used to being around children all day.

I first considered teaching as a career when I first began volunteering. Volunteering did

not necessarily involve teaching the kids, aside from the occasional bible verse. It still involved
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being around children all day, which is what I was curious about in regards to my career.

Initially, I decided to become a teacher in my Western Civilization class my freshman year of

high school. My teacher, Mr. Loosli, inspired me in so many ways. He inspired me to enjoy and

value the actual process of learning as well as value the actual material we were covering in

class. That was when I realized what I wanted my purpose to be, and who I wanted to become.

That feeling of inspiration and deep love for learning- that is how I want to make at least one of

my future students feel. I want to impact and inspire the lives of the future generations of this

country.

I have a few short term goals and a few long term goals. One of my short term goals is to

get my Associates Degree. In order to achieve this goal I must continue going to my classes and

committing to my homework. I cannot slack like I have been slacking, I must turn in my

homework on time and not procrastinate. A long term goal of mine is to land a solid teaching job

and have a solid career, and impact at least one student in the same way Mr. Loosli impacted me.

After that, I would like to go forward in my schooling and get my Masters Degree.

I am committed to instilling a sense of pride and desire in future students in regards to

their education. I believe that my purpose in life is to teach, and show students that there is value

in the act of learning itself. I will show that not only is the material I teach important, but

learning in general is important.