Anyone who knows me knows that I have always loved working with kids. When I was little I was playing with baby dolls and taking care of them. Then I turned twelve and wanted to babysit more than anything in the world. Then I turned sixteen and wanted to get a job at a preschool. I did all these things and loved every second of it. I still try my hardest to keep in touch with the family that gave me my first babysitting job which ultimately was the reason I decided I wanted to work with kids the rest of my life. It was no surprise to most people that I declared my major as education as soon as I entered college. However, I didn’t feel 100 percent with it. It was almost like “Oh yeah, I like working with kids, so yeah, I guess I’ll be a teacher”. It felt like the obvious choice but almost too good to be true. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t until this current year (my sophomore year of college) that I am 100 percent positive that educating our youth is what I want to do and is what God is calling me to do.

Like I said, I have had a lot of experience with working with kids, but this year I have really gotten involved with schools down in Columbia. I work at an after school program at an elementary school, I observe in the classroom once a week for my field work, I volunteer at a youth center for at risk kids, and I do children’s liturgy at mass once in a while. I have gotten involved a lot more in Columbia than I did last year. My freshman year, I didn’t really work with kids in Columbia. After being home for the summer and working at a preschool again and babysitting, I realized I needed that in Columbia as well. It has been absolutely amazing. I have been crazy busy but I’m doing what I love. Kids say the strangest/funniest/cutest things. I’ve been asked if I’m married, I’ve been asked if I have kids, I’ve been sassed by a third grader, I have been hugged so many times, I’ve felt unconditional love from these amazing kids. It takes one kid telling you a funny story, or telling you how awesome they think you are, or seeing them get really excited about getting a problem right in class for your bad day to melt away (hey that rhymes).

After seeing the impact people can have on kids, it has made me realize that I have no doubt that teaching is what I am supposed to do. I think I’ve always known it, but this year really made me realize that. Looking back on it, I should have always been certain that I was supposed to be a teacher. I am forever grateful for the first family that gave me a chance to do what I love. They trusted me with their three amazing kids when I was just 12 years old and I watched them for four summers (and I still hangout with them to this day and I am always up for taking them anywhere they want to go). That family has become like a second family to me. No matter what I had going on in my life, when I would babysit for families, all the stress would go away. I have always been able to put my worries aside while I’m with the kids I’m working with and enjoy playing with them, teaching them, talking to them, and seeing them grow up.

I think I’ve always known that this was the right career path for me. I remember when I was about eleven years old and was with my cousin and uncle. My uncle asked me if I wanted to be a teacher because of the way I was playing with my little cousin. The thought hadn’t occurred to me at the moment but ever since then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. My friends tell me it is perfect for me. And my family supports me completely. Of course there are some people that hear me say I want to be a teacher and are confused because I have one brother that is an engineer and another that is a lawyer. It makes me cringe because I know what they’re thinking, “Oh, well your brothers have these big paying jobs and you are going to be a teacher? That’s…interesting”. Yes, I am fully aware I will not make nearly as much as my brothers, but I could care less. I have so much joy when I am working with kids.

I want to help make a difference. I want to be the teacher that all the kids in the school want as a teacher. I want to be someone the kids can talk to when they don’t have anyone. I want to teach them things. I want to put a smile on their faces every day. I want to change them for the better. Even though I want to do all these things, I know that in reality it will go both ways. The kids will make a difference. It will be the kids that I want in my classroom. I will be enjoying every second of conversation I have with the kids. The kids will teach me. The kids will be putting a smile on my face every day when they walk through that door. And the kids will/have change/changed me into a better person and have/had more of an impact on my life than I have/had on theirs and they won’t/don’t even realize it. How could I ask for more?