Often times when I tell people “I’m a special education major” they respond with “it takes a special person to do that.” Now, yes, it is encouraging when someone says such a thing, but it's not that I’m some special person that made me decide to be a special education major. It’s the heartwarming feeling of knowing I made a difference.
Obviously, I'm not going into education for the money, ask any education major, but rather to make a difference in the lives of people. Being able to leave a lasting impression on someone and be the reason a student feels confident in their abilities and aspires to be something means more to me than a paycheck from sitting behind a desk in an office.
I didn’t always want to be a teacher, I used to want to be an event planner but after working with Miracle League, I got a feeling of wholeness and found that I could see myself working with Special Education for the rest of my life.
I have found that when speaking with other special education majors that they all different reasons they wish to go into the field we are. One example is my friend has a sister who is special needs and saw first hand how her sister was treated in school. She promised herself and her sister that she would never treat any student the way she had seen her sister being treated and wanted to make sure of it.
Another friend has been around the Special Education community her entire life and knew from a young age that that was what she had wanted to do. The three of us are just three examples of different stories as to why we chose our major to be special education but there are countless more stories that are similar and even completely different than ours. The commonality between all of us, however, is that we all wish to make a difference in the world and be able to impact the lives of students in the best and most influential way possible.
It may seem cheesy and cliché, but I cannot wait for the day that I can create a lasting impact on the lives of my students and their families. Granted, I have 4 more years to go and a minor in Psychology to complete as well, but the excitement I feel for my future is one that I cannot put into words.
“The future's so bright, I gotta put my shades on.”
