The day I met Dessy I can honestly say was a moment in my life when I felt that all of the things I had been doing on my mission trip in the Dominican Republic were the most important things I would ever accomplish. Dessy spotted me from across the schoolyard, recognizing me from a family photo that had been sent to her. She was wearing a beautiful bleached white dress with pink flowers on it. She was carrying a small purse, which my mother and I had sent to her as a birthday gift the year before. Her crooked little smile brought instant tears to my eyes. Dessy is my family’s sponsor child. For a few years now my family has been paying for Dessy to receive an education at the Lighthouse school, in the village of Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic.

While in the Dominican Republic I was surrounded by many children who lived in poverty yet were happy to have the things that they have. Many children in Los Alcarrizos are not able to attend school. Like my family sponsor child, almost all of the children getting an education must be sponsored. Education to these children is the best gift of all.

At the Lighthouse school all of the children are smiling because they know they are blessed. An education may be their only chance of rising above a life of poverty and achieving success. These children are so eager to learn. They are grateful to be experiencing this opportunity.

In America most children do not consider education to be a privilege like the Dominican children. My goal is to become a teacher so that I may influence the children that I teach in such a way that they too can feel privileged to be receiving an education. Children should know and learn how important and meaningful an education really is. Jane Goodall once said, “Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.” I want to be the educator who makes a difference in children’s lives by becoming the best teacher I can be.