As my first semester in college has come to a close I've started to ask myself, do I really want to become a teacher? I don't doubt that being a teacher will be fulfilling but I have to ask, is the low pay, mean parents, and the sometime rude kids, worth becoming a teacher?

I never doubted anything about becoming a teacher until I started getting, "the look". Yes I can see the pity in your eyes when I told you I was an Education Major. You don't have to have any pity for me. I've always wanted to become a teacher. I get to be apart of a child's life who may not get what they deserve at home.

I want to be a part of a child's life because a lot of kids deserve so much more than they have. I want to be a teacher that leaves a lasting impression on my students. I want to be a teacher because there are so many kids that can't talk to their parents at home.

So many of the "bad" students are just looking for attention. A lot of them don't know any other way of finding it. I want to show kids that they don't have to be bad to get attention. There are so many good things they can do that will get them attention too.

I want to show kids how good it feels to get an A and how school is something that can be fun. When a child has one bad teacher we lose them. I remember in fourth grade I had one good teacher and one bad one. The bad teacher ruined the entire year for me. I hated school from then on and couldn't wait to get out. I wanted to be the teacher that can make a student fall in love with school again.

Taylor Mali said it perfectly in his poem, "What teachers make". It is all about that just because a teacher doesn't make a lot of money doesn't mean anything. We are so much more than just glorified babysitters. I hold your child's mind in my hands for eight hours a day. I am a huge part of your child's life and sometimes spend more time with them in a day than you do. Check out Taylor's Youtube video because it is so amazing.

Back to the questions from the beginning. Every bad day is worth every good day. Every "look" that I get will be worth the smiles my students will give me one day. Every "Are you sure you want to be a teacher?" will be worth the "Thank you for teaching my son. He has loved your class this year". I hope to one day be as amazing as some of the teachers I've had in my life and I hope to be nothing like the bad teachers I've had. So to answer everything, yes it will be worth it.