Desmond Daniels, Arcadia University – Pursuing BA PreK-4/PreK-8 Special Education (2021) & MEd Literacy Studies, Concentration in TESOL & Reading (2022)
At the time of his scholarship application, Desmond’s cumulative GPA was an impressive 3.93. He has received the Dean’s Distinguished Award, is on the Dean’s Honor List, and is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Desmond already has a significant amount of experience in the education field, including working in after school and summer programs at both Abington Friends School and Greene Street Friends School, where he is also a substitute teacher. Additional experience includes being a proctor for the Independent School Entrance Exam and the Secondary School Admission Test, as well as serving as a research assistant to a professor at Arcadia, working on a project examining various activist movements by young people. Desmond is involved on-campus as a member of the Education Club, Curriculum Club Advisory Group and Black Awareness Society. In his scholarship application essay, Desmond stated that he knew back in kindergarten that he wanted to be an educator; however, as a sophomore in high school he was obsessed with HGTV and home flipping, which had him considering other options. He was able to simultaneously take an architecture course at Tyler School of Art while also visiting a pre-K classroom bi-weekly, and he quickly found himself excited to visit the students while dreading his Saturdays studying architecture. The following summer, Desmond worked with 4 year olds at a summer camp, an experience which he calls life-changing, as that was when he knew that education was the right path for him. Both of Desmond’s recommenders had wonderful things to say about him and gave him the highest ratings on his passion for teaching, love of children, work ethic and communication skills. One referred to him as demonstrating strong academic and leadership skills, as well as being self-motivated, highly driven, thorough and well organized, and an overall outstanding student. The other recommender stated that he “could easily become one of the best educators in our profession” and that he is “well on his way to becoming a highly reflective teacher” who will “make a difference in the field of Education.”