A subject turned observer. Rather, a subject-observer-interacter. That is what I want to become. My formal education, beginning with Kindergarten to when I walked on stage to graduate with a B.A. in Philosophy and minor in Educational Studies this past Fall, has led me to realize that I’ve only been a subject of education. That is, I’ve been taught to, but I have never before really taught others nor have I observed the process of teaching formally. My parents and teachers continually reminded me that education has importance and value and I wonder how far I would have gotten in my educational career had it not been for that realization. I wonder at times how students who aren’t blessed with wonderful parents like mine and equally devoted teachers come to that realization. Perhaps they don’t. One can't do anything about a student's familial situation, but one does have the opportunity to affect these same students in school and to impart in them the joy and rewards of learning. I, however, don't see education as a "banking system" as Paolo Frier advocates against in The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I don't believe that teachers are sole retainers of information and that students are just merely waiting to be filled with information. Rather, students need to learn how to learn with what information they are given with teachers as guides. This takes as much discipline from the students as well as the teacher. Why do I want to get into the MAT program? I believe that the MAT program would help me to become a better guide versus being either a disciplinarian or a mere repository of information. I want to also be able to understand the structures and ideas behind modern educational theories and formulate my own based on the theories.