Queen Simone

First and foremost, I want to thank God. I am not supposed to be here; one year away from graduating from the University of Missouri. Statistically, I was never supposed to finish high school. As a daughter of a fourteen-year-old teenager, who was also a daughter of a single mother, history shows that all odds are against me. My father never finished the 8th grade and my mother barely finished high school. Nothing in my life has gone according to “plan.” Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri-- a city that has one of the highest crime and drug rates, a school district that has lost it’s accreditation twice and has significantly high drop out rates amongst teenagers—college was not an option for me; it was a dream. A dream that I knew I would never be able to fulfill. 

Being a senior in college now, I have realized that everything begins with education. Period. Because I never stopped at high school to further my education, I have been granted opportunities that a lot of people could never dream of. Before the age of 21, I had seen 3 different countries, and will travel to my 4th his summer. However, I do not feel that those experiences are my own to keep. As an educated black woman, I feel it is my duty and responsibility to help those uneducated.

So when asked what I want to do with my life and why, the answer is simple; I want to be a teacher, because someone has to. Someone has to be the one to listen to the cries of children wanting to succeed but feel like they can’t. Someone has to sacrifice hours of sleep, in order to have conversations with children who have been afraid to speak before. In my city, with all the metal detectors, security officers, dogs and police force, it takes students twenty minutes to get inside the school; but there is no one preventing from leaving. Imagine if that same energy to keep them from getting in, was used to keep them from leaving. Someone has to prevent the children of America from dropping out, and that is where I vow to step in. 

I will determine my success as a teacher by the number of children who go from seeing school as an adversary to seeing it as a means to a better life. The measure of my success in the classroom will be both an improved academic performance, as well as a development of personal character. True success will be especially measured in the years to come and in the choices my students will be making. I would hope that as a result of our interaction, my students would choose to be committed to success, one day returning back to an underprivileged community to help those students, just like I plan to help them.

God has not only blessed me with an amazing vision for future, but He has also blessed with me with an even more amazing support system. As a woman, building her Queendom, I feel that it is important to never forget the people who helped you build and grow; because you can't do it alone. My friends, family and mentors have listened to me cry because I felt my dreams were too big; and never once did they tell me to look at other options. They inspired me and motivated me to keep going and never give up. I want to encourage all of you women, especially strong black women, to keep people in your life that will make you a better a better person. Because I owe all of my success and blessings to those people whom God placed in my life. I'll leave you with this,  “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” ― Malcolm X

S.M