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Nina Blythe

English 101

March 20,2011

The Miracle Woman

                A tall, thin, happy, energetic woman with a bob haircut stood in front of me in my pre-calculus class senior year. Her name was Mrs. Kelley and she was a miracle. “What a beautiful prayer that was today” she said as her eyes filled with tears. “It reminds me that if you have faith and you believe you can do it you will!” she paused, and then went on to tell us she had three brain tumors and all three cancerous.  “I remember the first time I went in for surgery I waited with my husband and remember thinking to myself I can do this, I can do this. They called me to an elevator to go upstairs to the operation room as I went in the elevator with a few other people I remember getting very nervous. And as soon as I stepped out of the elevator I thought to myself ‘Paula what are you doing’. I was running towards the door, when a security guard stopped me and said ‘Ma’am where do you think you’re going?’ I started to break down. I told him I can’t do this I need to get out of here I can’t do it! ‘Yes you can’ he said ‘you need to’. He walked me down the hall to my room where I waited, the doctor came in and the next thing I knew I was awake and my husband was with me.”  She was sobbing as she told us her story, and I remember thinking she was one of the bravest people I had ever met. She survived three large brain tumors when doctors told her there was a good chance she could come out not knowing a thing, unable to recognize people, or being unable to move and feel parts of her body. “I worked through it all I prayed every day and went to church every Sunday, and I do believe god helped me through all this. How am I lucky enough to survive 3 brain tumors and come out completely fine when doctors said I would be like a vegetable?”  She smiled and looked at all of us and said “Never take your lives for granted and always be the best you can be because one day it will all be worth it.” Those words stayed with me, and I’ll never forget the huge impact Mrs. Kelley had on my life. She was great teacher and an excellent person I hope to be as optimistic and caring as she is.

College Essay 2nd Draft

Springfield college essay 

When I started elementary school at Holy Name, my aunt would pick my cousins and I up from school everyday and dropped me off at my Nana’s; where she would watch me until my mom got out of work at four thirty. But one day I can remember so clearly- I was nine years old, it was a warm June day and it was my last week of school, I came in the house and my Nana was waiting by the phone I asked her what she was doing and she excitedly told me that my Aunt Missy was having the twins today! I was so excited I didn’t know what to do besides wait patiently by the phone with her, and a half hour later the phone rang and my Uncle Mike announced that my Aunt had the twins, Michael and Rachel. 

A few months later my Aunt had to go back to work and my Nana would watch the babies while she was at work. I can remember I couldn’t wait till the clock hit 2:25  so I could go to my Nana’s and play with the babies. It became a routine my Aunt Cathy would bring me home and the twins would just be waking up from their nap, and my Nana would let me watch them while she did things she needed to do around the house. I loved watching them and playing with them, and I didn’t even mind changing their diapers, they were so cute I couldn’t help but wanting to be around them all the time. My Nana had named me the #1 babysitter and I was so excited,  and I realized it wasn’t just them that I liked taking care of- I loved all small children. From then on I was constantly babysitting everybody’s children because thats what I loved doing.

It wasn’t until high school when I realized I may want working with children to become a career for me. I had a lot of other career ideas that I wanted to do but none of them stayed with me like caring for children did. So I talked to my guidance counselor and realized that early childhood education would be the perfect thing for me to study in college. The hard part was finding the right school for me, so we decided it was best that I attend my first year of college at BCC and transfer out when I have visited schools and have a more solid idea of where I wanted to go. 

Over the February vacation of senior year I attended a Springfield open house with my friend Ariel and her mom. I instantly fell in love the campus was beautiful and all of the people were super friendly and outgoing. We attended a tour of the campus where the guide mentioned all of Springfield’s little quirks like not cutting through the grass because it is like cutting the corners of life, and how students are educated in mind, spirit, and body. The one thing that caught my eye that really made me love Springfield was how they do so much for humanity. I would love to be involved in all of there community service and work they do in different countries. Its a great way to see the world and help other while your doing it. During the president’s speech he showcased all of the great work the school and students have done and I knew that was something I would love to e involved in. At the end of the day I went to the meeting for all the early childhood education majors and I think the way they do things at Springfield will really help me grow and excel in my education! 

All in all I think Springfield would be a a great place for me because it has everything I want in a school. I believe I could do great things if accepted Springfield College.

College Essay

Springfield college essay 

 Growing up I was always surrounded by friends and family; my entire neighborhood was pretty much all related. My Nana and Poppy lived in the house on the side of me and my friends and their grandparents lived in the next four houses over. My mother grew up in my neighborhood and everyone in her family lived within three miles of each other, so it was very close knit neighborhood for me growing up. When I was too young to attend to school my Nana would watch me, my sister, and my two cousins; and because she was so close and did not work I never had to attend daycare. 

When I started elementary school at Holy Name, my aunt would pick my cousins and I up from school everyday and dropped me off at my Nana’s; where she would watch me until my mom got out of work at four thirty. But one day I can remember so clearly- I was nine years old, it was a warm June day and it was my last week of school, I came in the house and my Nana was waiting by the phone I asked her what she was doing and she excitedly told me that my Aunt Missy was having the twins today! I was so excited I didn’t know what to do besides wait patiently by the phone with her, and a half hour later the phone rang and my Uncle Mike announced that my Aunt had the twins, Michael and Rachel. 

A few months later my Aunt had to go back to work and my Nana would watch the babies while she was at work. I can remember I couldn’t wait till the clock hit 2:25  so I could go to my Nana’s and play with the babies. It became a routine my Aunt Cathy would bring me home and the twins would just be waking up from their nap, and my Nana would let me watch them while she did things she needed to do around the house. I loved watching them and playing with them, and I didn’t even mind changing their diapers, they were so cute I couldn’t help but wanting to be around them all the time. My Nana had named me the #1 babysitter and I was so excited,  and I realized it wasn’t just them that I liked taking care of- I loved all small children. From then on I was constantly babysitting everybody’s children because thats what I loved doing.

It wasn’t until high school when I realized I may want working with children to become a career for me. I had a lot of other career ideas that I wanted to do but none of them stayed with me like caring for children did. So I talked to my guidance counselor and realized that early childhood education would be the perfect thing for me to study in college. The hard part was finding the right school for me, so we decided it was best that I attend my first year of college at BCC and transfer out when I have visited schools and have a more solid idea of where I wanted to go. 

Over the February vacation of senior year I attended a Springfield open house with my friend Ariel and her mom. I instantly fell in love the campus was beautiful and all of the people were super friendly and outgoing. We attended a tour of the campus where the guide mentioned all of Springfield’s little quirks like not cutting through the grass because it is like cutting the corners of life, and how students are educated in mind, spirit, and body. After the tour we went to a volleyball game and Ariel and I both played volleyball in high school so it was awesome to see college level volleyball. The one thing that caught my eye that really made me love Springfield was how they do so much for humanity. I would love to be involved in all of there community service and work they do in different countries. Its a great way to see the world and help other while your doing it. During the president’s speech he showcased all of the great work the school and students have done and I knew that was something I would love to e involved in. At the end of the day I went to the meeting for all the early childhood education majors and I think the way they do things at Springfield will really help me grow and excel in my education! 

All in all I think Springfield would be a a great place for me because it has everything I want in a school. I believe I could do great things if accepted and attending Springfield College.

I believe that schools and colleges should adopt technology to a certain extent. I think it is great for schools to have computer labs, wi-fi, hybrid and online courses, and forums where students can go on and see their class assignments and get online tutoring. But I do not believe in making schools all technological, I think students really need physical contact with teachers, classmates, and resources. Unlike Cushing Academy I think students need actual books instead of e-readers and online sources for multiple reasons. When students are on the computer doing homework they are never doing just homework, they are constantly emailing, updating social network sites, and chatting with friends about things other than homework. I know this because being a student in such a technologically advanced time I face the constant urge to stay connected,wether it be by talking to my friends via text, or adding a new picture to Facebook, or telling everyone how my day was on twitter. Technology can be a really large distraction, but with that being said there are also many positive sides to technology as well. Such as the eLearning BCC for example, my child development teacher posted our syllabus, study guides, assignments, and due dates all on the website. So instead of printing out a ton of hand outs, and trying to keep track of all of them I can just go online every week find out what I need to do for that class with out having to dig through my backpack to try and find a paper given to me on the first day of class. Another positive side to technology in schools is having teachers who like their assignments and papers emailed to them! It's so much easier to just email your teacher a paper when your done with it rather than the night before scrambling to find a printer because yours broke or is out of ink. Technology in the classroom is also very rewarding because teachers can easily project an article or a video clip they found online and show the class within seconds. This can make class more interesting and keep students engaged with videos, slide shows, research found online that catches students attention and helps them better understand the material they are being taught. With all of this being said I think that technology is important to have in school but not to the point where it becomes a distraction, and students do not have and physical contact with a teacher, classmate, or textbook.