As long as I can remember, I would run around the house pretending I was the teacher, forcing my siblings to take spelling “tests” so I could grade them, asking my friends to be the students when they would come over for playdates, and just wanting to teach anytime I could.
As I got older, in middle school I spent almost every day after school for two hours in my teacher’s classroom, helping her grade papers, clean up her classroom, and get ready for the next day.
In high school, I wanted to teach so badly I gave up my free period to be a teacher’s aide in my absolute favorite teachers ninth-grade biology class.
The bottom line is, I’ve wanted to teach forever, and a small paycheck or long school days aren’t going to change anything.
If I have learned anything growing up, it’s that you have to love what you do. Whether that’s sports, your part time job, and everything in between. If you don’t love something you’re doing, the product will be subpar. This is the same with your career path. So many times I see people choosing majors for the money, or for the fame. That might look appealing on the surface, but as soon as you have to spend 8 hours a day 5 days a week doing that same job, if you don’t love it you will end up unhappy.
I guess what I am trying to say is that we, as potential teachers, need others to stop discouraging us from going after what we want, and for the public to see teaching as equal to all other jobs out there. I am not here to try and protest for a pay raise or anything, I just feel as though if family members and friends of us teachers got as excited to hear we are going into teaching as they do when someone announces they are going to law school, we would be encouraged to fulfill our dreams.
Personally, I have been extremely lucky as all of my family members completely support teaching as a profession but I see so many other friends and peers who would be absolutely awesome teachers, they just feel as though it’s not a prestigious major to choose.
I love teaching, and seeing children faces light up when they understand. I love it when a student comes into the classroom and gives you a giant hug because they are happy to see you, but what I love the most is seeing teachers happy. It may not be the most respected profession, but it's 100 percent the right profession for me.
So to all of the other future teachers out there, do not let negativity get you discouraged. We need teachers in this society who love what they do and want to change lives. After all, who do you think taught the President what he knows today? And to everyone else, its okay that you don’t want to teach, but I do.
