Few things annoy me more than when people immediatly dismiss me once they find out I'm an education major. Because, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." At least, that's how the saying goes anyway. There's a slew of questions people ask and comments people make to education majors, and frankly, it gets both tiring and annoying. Here's some that I hear the most often:

1. "You're so lucky you'll get summers and weekends off!!"

Uh no, I'll be spending my summers and weekends grading, making lesson plans, and decorating my classroom. All hours I won't be getting paid for. All hours I'll be putting in to make sure that my class is at the very least tolerable for students who hate the subject I teach, and inspirational for those who love the subject I teach.

2. "You chose such an easy career choice."

If by easy you mean being responsible for approximately 30 different kids every hour and making separate lesson plans for each class, and doing my best to make sure each and every kid gets the best education from me they can, then yeah, definitely easy.

3. "You chose such an easy major, you must have so much free time."

Education majors are required to know as much as possible about their focus(s) or all the subjects, varying upon age level of who they want to teach, psychology, and how to actually teach. It's a lot. College in general is a lot, it's meant to be a free pass to a degree and a job.

4. "You're really playing into the female stereotype" or "You're a guy, are you sure you can teach?"

Gender does not determine the rate of success of failure in any profession or career choice. My best friend won't be any worse of a teacher than I will just because he's a guy. I won't have any advantage in teaching over him because I'm a girl.

5. "Oh really? Education is my backup plan if my major doesn't work out!"

My major isn't a backup plan. It's great that you have one, I personally think everyone should have a backup plan. But in this day and age, we don't need teachers who didn't already have the will and drive to teach. We don't need teachers who aren't already wholly invested in their future careers.

6. "You must have such a strong will to work with kids!"

You aren't wrong, and this can be taken as a form of a compliment, but let me tell you why I hate hearing this: it's an insult to my future students. You're implying that I'll need a strong will to teach them. Frankly, you need a strong will in nearly every profession at some point, not just teaching. Give some credit to my future students.

7. "Are you sure you want to teach? You know you won't get paid much for that, right?"

People don't go into education for the fame and fortune, you're right about that. I want to teach because I want to help build a stronger future and teaching is a damn good way to do it. Think about it, teachers are an incredibly influential part of everyone's life, especially from a psychology standpoint. Teaching is my opportunity to inspire the minds that will lead the future.

8. "So you're going to teach social studies, what do you want to coach?"

This stereotype, as well as the fact that people are surprised that I'm a girl majoring in grades 7-12 social studies education, is probably the one that gets on my nerves the most. I don't have to be a man to teach social studies, I don't have to coach just because I teach social studies. However, if you're genuinely curious, I'd enjoy being a color guard instructor.

9. "It's nice you'll be able to leave work an hour after the school day ends."

Occasionally I might get to, but more often than not teachers stay much longer after the school day ends to offer help to students, attend meetings, grade papers, or organize their classroom after a long day. Again, all hours teachers aren't paid for.

10. "It's so cute that you want to do the same thing that your mom does!"

It's a coincidence that we're both women going into a predominantly female career with a predominantly male focus. I watched The History Channel with her when I was a kid and we talked about WWII over Thanksgiving dinner when I was in high school. I'm a momma's girl through and through but don't degrade our career choices by calling it "cute". Puppies are cute, kittens are cute, life choices aren't cute.

Curiosity can be great, ask me questions about my major, what it entails, how it's going, etc. Don't ask me how I can do it, why I'm doing it, or belittle my career choice. I get a chance to do what I love, and I hope you do, too.