When I first entered high school, I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to help people, and I wanted to make a difference somehow. I thought that I wanted to be a cardiac surgeon. Being able to hold a human heart intrigued me, and knowing that I could possibly save someone's life made the decision easier. As I learned more about the medical field, I realized that this was something I was not passionate about. I hated my math and science classes, and no matter how hard I tried, I just could not fall in love with them. I wanted to do something with my life that had meaning, and something I was truly passionate about.
I decided to focus on what I truly loved doing. Reading and writing have always been my strengths. I have always been the type of person who could never out a book down, or who put their heart and soul into everything that they wrote. As I looked around my English class, I realized that not everyone shared those same passions. In high school, reading books was not fun anymore and writing was too tedious. I wanted to show the people around me how books could transport you to places that you never could have imagined, or how one sentence could express a wave of feelings. I then knew that I wanted to become a high school English teacher.
Not many people realize the impact that teachers have on students. There is a fixation on the amount of money a teacher is making, instead of what they are actually doing. I have been told countless times that I will never make any money teaching. My degree is apparently useless, my passions are ridiculous, and I will never impact future generations. However, maybe my salary has nothing to do with my passion for teaching. The little hope that we have in our future teachers is what causes future generations to fail. We have lost sight in what the education system can offer our children because we do not believe in our teachers.
School is the gateway to college, or pursuing a career. School not only prepares you for the future that you seek, but it also teaches you about yourself. You learn about who you are and how far you are willing to go in order to succeed. As a teacher, you are supposed to guide your students in the right direction, and help them expand on their ideas. Whether it is going to college or pursuing a different career opportunity, your students look to you for help. They need to be motivated, listened to, and not judged. A teacher can provide a student with a new perspective, whether it is a character's choice in a dramatic novel, or a lesson hidden within the book's pages.
I want my students to be inspired and to look at the world as their canvas. I want to be the teacher that pushes her students to do greater things in life, and offers them a world of opportunities. Sometimes children just want to be heard. They may not have that support at home, or feel confident enough to set goals. My job is to be the support system and to make the moments in the classroom memorable. The amount of money that shows up on my paycheck has nothing to do with my passion for teaching. When I see my students' eyes light up after finishing a gripping novel, or when I hear the excitement in my students' voices while participating in an interesting discussion, that is why I teach. I create moments, and a dollar sign does not reflect my passion for teaching.
