I’ve known since elementary school I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Throughout the years, I would entertain notions of other careers: veterinarian, detective, author, etc., but I always found myself coming back to the occupation of education. I remember asking my elementary school teachers for extra handouts so I could practice school on my own time. I was that invested! Before I had a whiteboard, I would attach pieces of notebook paper to my bedroom wall to "write things on the board." As a matter of fact, I recently discovered this writing had bled through onto the wall when I went to repaint my room last summer. This certainty of my desired future career path, however, did not come without criticism or warnings from others.
In my experience, one of the first things a lot of people ask when you tell them you’re planning on becoming a teacher is regarding money. “Why would you want to go into such an underpaid career?...You know the money isn’t nearly enough for what you do, right?” And on, and on. I’ve heard everything from “There’s more money in medical,” to “Why don’t you do something with computers? That’s where the money is.” I knew from the time I was old enough to think about careers, I would not be choosing one mostly based on a yearly income.
In my opinion, if you go into a career you’re not excited about simply for the money you will make soon that money will cease to matter. Imagine going to a job every day that you hate, or strongly dislike. Personally, I would rather make an average or modest income and enjoy what I am contributing my life toward then to be in it for the money and dread getting out of bed every morning. On the money front, I’ll say this: Teachers are definitely undervalued because of all that they do, but the money is definitely not terrible, at least, not to me. Less than it should be yes, but it’s not that bad as an average income.
That brings us to another topic — I want to be a teacher because I truly enjoy teaching and helping people learn, and that is another big reason as to why the money is not an issue for me. I chose English as my specialty because I believe it is one of the most, if not the most, important and helpful skill a student can learn in school.
Kids may complain about the usefulness of a trig equation in real life, but trust me, skills learned through English classes are vital. Communication, through speech and writing, analysis, critical thinking, comprehension, following directions, and proper grammar are only a few of the things students should learn in a successful English class in school that will greatly improve their future lives, both professionally and privately. I also firmly believe that reading is a transformative act where escapism and fantasy can meet knowledge and learning, and that if a student hates to read, they simply have not found the right book yet, or they have had a terrible assigned reading experience in the past. My goal is to help combat that, one class at a time. Reading is fun!
I don’t need millions. I just need a good school district and some willing learners. And if I’m really lucky, maybe standardized testing won’t be such a huge priority when I graduate college and get my teaching license, but that’s another topic altogether.
