"Good for you." "You know you won't make much money doing that." "You must have a lot of patience to do that." These are things I hear every time I tell someone that I am majoring in Education. I understand that there are difficulties with it, I know that teachers do not make as much money as some other occupations might. But for everyone who tells me these things, I still want to be a teacher and nothing you tell me will change that.

I have always wanted to be a teacher. Anyone can ask my parents and they will tell you stories of how I would set up a classroom in our family room and play teacher with my stuffed animals. There was even a time where I recruited my friends to be my students and gave them a spelling test. Education has always been my passion. I have the opportunity to help kids learn new facts and skills, watch them grow hopefully into responsible young adults and maybe change a kid's life for the better. While there are downsides to teaching, there are so many good things that can come out of this profession.

Speaking from experience, I am always disheartened when an adult or fellow student degrades my choice of major because of what they have heard in the news or seen from walking around a school building. Friends of mine have shared stories of interactions they have had from random strangers telling them that they might not get a job because of their subject choice. I had a coworker that I respected explain to me all of the reasons I should not be a teacher. People say things such as: "Teachers are being cycled out for technology. They are pointless because some kids may decide not to go to college and forget everything you tell them. There are more troubled kids than good ones. You want to quit every day. You'll go broke because you don't make money over the summer."

For those people who decide to tell Education majors reasons they chose the "wrong" career path, many of us know the "risks" or "downsides" and we are OK with them. Education majors are trained and student teaching many times over the course of their college career in order to ensure they are positive in their choice of major. Most of us understand the fact that the pay is not super high and we are OK with that. The idea of a summer job has become a reality for us. Your small insight will not change our minds after beginning to study a four-year major. I have been a lifeguard for four years and worked with children at a playground at Disney World, neither of those things has deterred me from my major. If those don't change my mind, telling me that teaching requires patience and it is hard to find a job as an English teacher probably won't either.

Thank you to everyone who tries to change our minds but our hearts have been set. Education majors have thought long and hard about their decision and a few minutes of degrading our profession will not change it. Maybe we will take your opinion into our final decision but when you get to senior year there is a good chance we know that it is what we are called to do. I am a little tired of hearing why my career may be difficult and would greatly appreciate if people would stop. For all those education majors out there, you are not alone and we are all there for you.