The EL principle of the primacy of self-discovery intrigued me because it makes me think about an assignment I had in my ethics class that took a lot of self-reflection to complete. I read over David Hume’s Of Suicide where he attempts to justify the act of suicide, and I had to agree or disagree with his assertions. I have always held that suicide is wrong no matter what, but Hume’s arguments were completely logical, which made the assignment difficult for me. This forced me to do research on suicide as told from both points of view, and I dug into my bible to find what the Christian faith said about it. “Learning happens best with emotion, challenge, and the requisite support.” Defending my assertions for why suicide is wrong was certainly a challenge because I had never considered the arguments that Hume made, but this definitely inspired me to learn. I learned a lot during the course of this assignment, but what I truly remember was being intrigued by all the different ideas presented, and how logical some of the arguments that justified suicide were.

I believe that I have a lot of potential for fieldwork in community schools. Passing on my knowledge to others for their benefit is something I have done in different ways, and I truly enjoy it. Seeing others benefit from what I teach them is a really rewarding feeling, and since I have this desire to pass on my knowledge in the academic community, I think I have great potential. I have a good amount of experience working with the youth in community schools, especially elementary schools. When I was a senior in high school, I, along with two of my friends, were given the opportunity to volunteer in the P.E. department at our local elementary school. Most of our volunteer work consisted of playing games with the children during their P.E. classes, but we were also granted the opportunity to come into some of the classrooms and read to them and do other activities. Going into the classrooms and actually help teach the kids was something I enjoyed more than simply playing games with them, because I could see that some of the content they were learning sparked interest in them. Reading books to them was also enjoyable, as I would look out at them all sitting down staring at me either laughing at the book I was reading or simply lost in the story.

John Dewey says that “education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living” (Dewey, 94). In order to be an effective teacher, it is certainly necessary for kids to understand and feel like their education experience is not simply an item on checklist to prepare them for their future. Rather they should understand that education is an experience that they should thrive in and get the most out of. When I was volunteering in the elementary school, My friends and I tried our hardest to make our time with the kids stimulating and enjoyable so that coming to school was something for them to look forward to.