First things first, being an education major is not an “easy” degree as so many people believe. In order to pursue a career as an educator, you have to be dedicated, organized and truly have a passion not just for children, but also for the profession itself. Each semester on top of a full course load, education majors are required to do numerous hours of fieldwork off campus. Although our field placement course only counts for one credit hour, we are observing classes way more than that one credit accounts for. This semester I was doing double my credit hours in observations and my observation hours will continue to increase while my course load will never subside. To meet all of the requirements to become a teacher, you definitely have to want to do the job. Why else would you go through all the paperwork, background checks, observation hours, papers, lesson plans and grading if you knew you did not love it? Good thing for me is thus far I have thoroughly enjoyed my education classes and the two schools I have observed at. Now I will admit when I entered a classroom where you do not agree with the teaching style it was hard for me not to just ask a million questions as to why it was structured this way. But this experience just adds to the many I will encounter on my journey to become a teacher.
Second thing, when you tell someone you are majoring in education and want to become a teacher they look at you with pity and say, “Why on earth would someone want to become a teacher in today’s world when the medical field is where the money is at?” This question practically puts me in my grave. The answer is simple. I would much rather do something I love and not be wealthy than to do something for the money and be miserable. I learned this pretty quickly in college. You should never pursue a career in something just for the money or benefits. After taking a few of my gen ed courses, I quickly realized certain fields of work were definitely not for me. Tift College of Education quickly became my home. I know the education field is currently under scrutiny when it comes to curriculum and standardized testing. It comes to a point where rules and regulations are going to change. It is one of the many challenges teachers have to face. You have to learn to adapt quickly to a changing environment and mend your practices to fit the current standards. I know at times it is going to be very difficult to follow all of these rules. But in order to make change, you have to be the change.
Lastly, a big misconception of education majors is that anyone can be one. While this is true, anyone can major in education but not everyone can actually teach. In order to be a successful teacher, you need to have a passion to educate children based on their individual learning styles while also challenging yourself as an educator each day to make yourself better. Once a teacher loses their passion, the hope for their students is gone. So get out there and teach if you are one of the crazy few who have a passion to educate children as much as I do!
