?Would it be wonderful to make a strong impact on a child’s life, so that they grow in a positive atmosphere and are encouraged to pursue his or her own dreams? I became moved to do just that, after watching Erin Gruwell’s inspirational story The Freedom Writers and Diane Sawyer’s documentary A Hidden America: Children on the Plains-each directly relaying a message to me, to pursue an English teaching degree. If I had not been invited in the spring of my senior year to an award banquet for winning the district-wide Cesar Chavez writing contest, I would not have turned onto the path of English instruction. There, I met Ms. Jefferylyn Davis, the English coordinator of the East Side Union High School district. I told her my aspirations to become an English teacher, and she set me on my pursuit of education by offering me a job, a four-week-long GEAR UP program which offered remedial classes for students who failed their core subjects freshman year. I was assigned to Andrew P. Hill High School, where I worked the summer following my senior year as an assistant for a professor. I was able to get to know the students on a personal level because I was willing to listen to them. Oscar, a student I worked with, had trouble writing basic sentences, claiming to have a minor form of ADHD. I advised him to create a chart that simplified basic sentence structures, starting with the subject, action verb, and predicate. Although he had some setbacks, he showed improvement by staying during break time and asking for assistance. Jose, another student, gave me a bit of trouble sometimes, refusing to do his work and bothering other students. After having a talk with him about classroom conduct, I learned that the reason why he had not done well in school was because his work for his father’s air conditioner installing company kept him from completing his homework. Working for the GEAR UP program not only changed my perspective about failing student