Benjamin Wyatt Calhoun
Goal Statement
In my Junior year of high school, I experienced the loss of someone who I deeply cared
for. Having never experienced the death of a loved one before and having such a personally
significant relationship with my grandmother, the loss was especially difficult for me. I lost all
motivation to complete assignments or perform daily tasks and no longer had a desire to
socialize with my friends. Despite my lack of drive, I tried to conceal my distress and act as
normal as possible while at school or work. There were only a select few people who noticed
my change in demeanor, one of which being my Spanish teacher at the time. The teacher, who
had a reputation as a formidable disciplinarian amongst students, asked me to stay after class
with him. Despite his strict and somewhat unapproachable presence, he showed genuine concern
by acknowledging and questioning my slight change in attitude. When I told him what had
happened, he offered me earnest advice and allowed me to express any and all emotions that I
had been suppressing up until that point. That small, after-class conversation is a major
contributor in my decision to become a teacher. Although I did have plenty of experience
working with and teaching children, as I was the assistant coach for a middle school girls
basketball team and worked as a referee on the weekends, I had never really made the connection
that becoming a teacher is something that I wanted to do. This revelation did not occur until I
realized, through firsthand experience, the degree to which a teacher is able to have such a
positive impact on a student’s life. This sense of welcomeness and the sympathetic presence that
my teacher showed to me is something that I not only benefited from as a person, but now is
something that I want the opportunity to extend to my own group of young adults all while
teaching a subject that I find to be extremely compelling.
With this goal in mind, I opted to attend George Mason University for both my
undergraduate and, hopefully, my graduate degree. I had originally selected the campus due to
its close proximity to the Fairfax area but, upon attending, fell in love with what the diverse
campus had to offer. In a classroom setting, being able to understand and remain open-minded is
of the utmost importance to ensure that all students’ experiences are of equal importance and
included in the conversation. As an undergraduate, Mason helped instill a sense of inclusion
within me by exposing me to a myriad of different people, and so I felt it only fitting that I
receive my degree from the same institution that has already been so vital in teaching me and
helping me develop into the person that I am today. From my very first semester here, I have
continually met and interacted with unique individuals from all over the world and have learned
more than I could imagine regarding different cultures, languages, and ways of thought. On top
of that, the B.A.M. program itself is an amazing opportunity that would allow me to receive my
degree in the most efficient manner possible so that I am one step closer to achieving a goal I set
way back in 2017.
As for my academic aspirations, being the first person from my immediate family to
graduate from a university is something that I have been looking forward to for years. My
parents, despite having only attended community college in some capacity, have worked hard to
get to a financial position where they are privileged enough to send their children to college, and
so having their son graduate from a university is as much of an accomplishment for them as it is
for me. I look to utilize the learning opportunities extended to me to ensure that I am well-
prepared as a teacher so that future students can prosper in my courses all while assisting them as
they are navigating to find their own place in life. Fostering a love for education, critical-
thinking skills, and interpersonal skills within students is a significant metric of what constitutes
a good teacher, and this program is essential in helping me develop these skills. Having worked
as a substitute for around a year now, I have gradually gained experience interacting with
students in a classroom setting but have yet to practice being the sole conductor with my own
lesson plans and own classroom. This experience is not only extremely valuable, but something
that I feel Mason’s program is exceptionally fit to provide me.
All in all, this program is an opportunity that I am thankful for having and I am eager to
seize. I look to utilize it as a means of bettering myself as a student, a future educator, and, above
all, a person. While this program has the potential to prepare me for my future successes, it is
the enhancement of my desire to learn and grow that I look forward to the most.
