Hard working, highly competitive, and desire for knowledge. There are many skills and characteristics that I have developed throughout my lifetime but when trying to consider the traits to highlight, I always stem back to hard work, desire to compete, and longing for further knowledge as the traits that drive my daily life.From early on in high school, through undergrad and into the work force, I have always been an extremely hard working individual. I pride myself on efficiency, which I define as doing work as quickly and effectively as possible without sacrificing quality. I always look for ways to improve and ways to help me be more efficient in whatever task, job or role I find myself in for the day. Along with working hard, I have always been very competitive. It is my desire to be better today than I was the previous day, as well as to be the best among my peers at whatever I set out to do. I realize the importance of knowing that there will always be someone better than you, but my drive to outperform that person elevates me to a level of performance that couldn't be obtained otherwise. Competition, whether within or amongst others, helps set standards and expectations to a very high level. My undergraduate degree in philosophy only solidified what I know to have always been true. I love the entire process of knowledge. I love to learn, and strive to learn something new daily. I love to teach; to relay a specific knowledge to another individual, in hopes that it drives their desire to learn further. It is this trait that has led me to teaching. There are multiple types of individuals, those who see the present and complain, those who see the present and try to fix it themselves, and those who see where the present will lead, and try to teach those who are responsible for our future to alter the path of the present to lead to a more desirable future. I find myself in the latter category. Today's kids are tomorrow's leaders!