As a college student I'm constantly being asked what I'm going to be doing with my life. It's not normal for someone to decide what they are going to do with the rest of their life before they're in college. It's actually pretty common for a college student to change their major a few times before figuring it out. As for me, I'm the opposite.
In eighth grade, I took a math test and aced it, which was pretty usual for me. When it came to math, or any subject really, I didn't expect anything lower than an A. Anyways, on this particular test, I got the extra credit problem right and my teacher made me explain it to the class. That day while standing at the board I realized that I could do that all day every day. It's one of those thoughts that stayed in the back of my head and I never really let it cross my mind. I knew I was meant to teach and I knew I loved math, but I didn't want to admit that teaching was for me. I thought I could do better than that; I thought I was better than that.
I got to college and had aspirations to become an engineer. I was worried about how being an engineer would impress people and I figured "hey, it's math-based, I'm sure I'll love it!" Ha. Wrong. I took differential equations and hated it. I've always loved math, I even liked calculus, but I HATED diff eq. For those math people out there, you probably understand this completely. I could've stuck it out and done okay and probably would've made loads of money. But money isn't everything. It took a summer of coaching to make me realize what I knew all along: I was meant to be a math teacher.
I'm going to be great at teaching math for a number of reasons. I love math. Yeah I'm one of those weird people who are constantly laughing at math puns and doing math in their head rather than using a calculator. I'm also a natural-born leader. From giving speeches to being a captain in sports, I've always been very vocal. I'm a natural coach. I love helping things click for others, whether that's something as simple as a young pitcher making adjustments or giving someone a new way to view a math problem, I get so emotional it's insane.
When I think of my future as a High School Math Teacher, I think of passion. I'm going to be great at what I do because I have a love and desire for helping others. Hopefully, teaching math opens up coaching positions and all sorts of other blessings that I can't even begin to imagine. When it all comes down to it, I'm extremely anxious to be teaching my own classroom in two short years because I'm going to love what I'll be doing day in and day out. That's what matters most, it's not that you make more money or what people think of you. It's the fact that you love it. Once you realize that, everything else will fall into place.
