My younger sister used to always say that when she grew up, she wanted to be a rockstar. This is still hilarious to me because the poor child can’t carry a tune to save her life. But when my parents would ask me what I wanted to be, I said an elementary school teacher. It’s not very often that someone knows what they actually want to do with their life in the second grade, but here I am as a sophomore in college, following that same dream. It’s not the most glamorous profession out there, but it’s perfect for me in so many ways.
I have a cardigan and a skirt in almost every color.
My family always tells me that I dress like a librarian, an insult to most people, but a compliment to me. I can’t wait until I can dress up in kooky dresses that match the lesson I'm teaching. Last week, my CODI professor wore a dress with little dinosaurs on it, and I could just picture myself wearing something like that during a science lesson. Fun fact: I really just googled dinosaur teacher dress and my professor's exact dress popped up.
I already have a bin of teaching supplies.
Hole puncher, stickers, stapler, every colored pen and highlighter, tacks, paper, flash cards, construction paper: you name it, I have it. I have to fight the urge not to go crazy during back to school season, because every time I go to the store, I just imagine what I could use that for in my classroom.
My organizational and creative skills will finally come in handy.
My color-coded planner will never leave my side, it's not like it doesn’t already stay attached my hip anyway. I’ll get to plan lessons, organize my classroom, and be in charge of the set up. I have goosebumps just thinking about creating bulletin boards.
I’ll finally have an excuse to use my sassy remarks.
Counting down the days until I can say to a student, “I don’t know, can you?” *insert evil laugh here*
I’ll get to see the light bulbs go off in these kids heads.
I want to be there for the children who think they are dumb, but then realize that they know the answer. I’ll get to be the one to congratulate them and encourage them.
I’ll get time off.
This is one of the key selling points about becoming a teacher. I’ll get to have all the holidays and vacation time off to spend time with my family.
I’m not naive to think that being a teacher is the most practical job in terms of money, but that’s not at all what matters to me. The truth is, I have beaucoup silly reasons why I want to be a teacher, but the main reason is that I just want to help children. I want to be there for them when they can’t understand the lesson. I want to be the teacher they can’t wait to see on Monday mornings. I want to be their favorite teacher that they think about for years to come. I still think about my second grade teacher who changed my life, and I just want to be able to give that same feeling to someone else.
