Dear Future Me,
You did it! You have gotten through all of craziness of becoming an education major and are now about to start your first day as a teacher of your very own class.
You worked through so much to get where you are today. You spent countless hours on unit plans, lesson plans, and microteaching lessons all throughout college. You spent hours in a small room taking all of the tests needed for certification and even more hours perfecting your edTPA. You also survived student teaching! You worked so incredibly hard throughout college. No matter how nervous you are for this, you learned everything you need to know. College has prepared you for this moment and you are ready.
Remember when you contemplated changing your major twice in college? I am not even sure why you doubted this profession. It is something you have always loved and that clearly has not changed. Both times you contemplated changing majors, you went to fieldwork at the end of the week, realized how much you truly love teaching and being around children and never doubted yourself again. It is where you truly belong.
Past you had her mind set on becoming a teacher in two certain locations. Maybe you ended up at one of them! If you did, you are just as shocked as I am that you already accomplished your goal! If not, that is okay. This is only the very beginning of your journey. You can only go up from here.
The you of the past already knows that your classroom is bursting with colors and decorations. You have always been excited when it comes to decorating. You always imagined your classroom with pictures and colors everywhere. Twelfth grade you made a decision that you were going to get your sister to help you with your bulletin boards because you were the worst when it came to creating bulletin boards. You struggled greatly with the artistic aspect, but hey, maybe you have improved through the years! Regardless, you have been dreaming about getting to decorate your very own classroom and that day has finally come.
I know you are extremely nervous and that is okay. This has been a moment that you have been terrified for since college. You are starting your first job all on your own and you know this first year makes or breaks the rest of your career as a teacher. It is scary but it is part of the process. Just breathe and remember that you are more than ready for this. You passed all of the tests, attended many workshops to be ready for this moment and you learned everything you need to know. I know that you are going to tackling on this whole day with a big smile on your face because even though you are nervous, you should be so proud of yourself. This is a huge moment in your life so take the ride and enjoy it.
Remember: this is what you were meant to do in life. You have always wanted to make a large impact the lives of children and now this is your moment.
Love,
You (age 21)
