From a young age, I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I would purposely pick the teacher career card in the Game of Life during family board game nights even though I knew that their salaries were significantly lower than the doctors and lawyers.

I was the girl who would stand up in front of my stuffed animals and teach them everything I learned in school that day. “Teaching” my stuffed animals definitely helped me especially in high school as the subjects got harder. I still shamelessly teach the cast of Friends on our living room poster when my roommates aren’t home. I always looked forward to the first day of school and showed a genuine eagerness to learn. I knew that my teachers had a major impact on my eagerness to learn and my chosen career path.

I know that my life won’t be glamorous and I won’t make as much money as I would if I was a STEM major. I understand that I am going to have to pick a coffee preference soon, since I won’t be getting much sleep. I know that I will constantly be perfecting lesson plans, and finding content that will challenge my students rather than bore them, and I see your eye rolls when I introduce myself as a secondary education major. I need you to understand that I purposely chose this since high school is one of the biggest transitions in a teenager’s life with all of the physical and emotional changes. This is the time where I can make the biggest difference in their lives. I want to be their cheerleader, and I want to create a safe place where my students can feel like they can escape the pressures of their everyday lives.

It’s not family game night anymore and I’m still insistent on the teacher career card. I understand that my salary won’t be glamorous but you need to understand that I am going to change lives and help raise your future doctors, lawyers and presidents. Every day will be unpredictable filled with laughs and genuine smiles that I get the opportunity to put on kids’ faces, and no one can put a price on that.