"You are undermining your intellectual abilities."
"You are too smart to just be a teacher."
"You missed your calling."
Do any of the above three statements sound familiar? Maybe your family and friends even colleagues cannot fathom why you chose the career you have chosen, whether that be teaching, librarian, glorified assistant, nurse, etc. I cannot begin to count how many times I have personally heard the above statements, because I have decided to make a career in the education system.
What would the world be without teachers to instruct future lawyers, future doctors, future politicians, future emergency respondents etc? Does no one pause to think that without educators, there would be no future anything? Some of the most influential people in my life have been my teachers. I distinctly remember one teacher telling me I would fail as a teacher, because there would be no openings by the time I graduated and entered the work force. Where did this teacher come across thinking it was alright to tell an 18 year old girl not to pursue her dreams? Better question: Why do people think they can deter future teachers from fulfilling their dreams? No, my dream is not to explore Mars or discover the cure to a terminal illness, but someone else's is, and someone else had teachers. Someone else with those humongous dreams had an interest sparked in school by a lesson or class one day in astronomy or chemistry. But is someone else's dream more important than my own? Are dreams of becoming a teacher so mundane and uninteresting to be put on the back-burner? Why is it that other countries like Greece and Spain being a teacher is more highly respected as a career than in the United States? Though I wish I had the answer, I do not. However, I do have a few more points to make the next time you hear or think about dissing teachers.
1. Teachers are the people who open unknown doors to children every day. Their lessons range from arithmetic to Beowulf to World War I.
2. (Most) teachers show unconditional love regardless of how the child acts. They genuinely want to enrich the youth of America's minds.
3. Teachers have to be humble enough to understand most people will not respect them nor will others take time to really think about how much they must do everyday for not one student but for every single child they teach.
4. New teacher's salary (meaning a teacher with only a bachelor's degree and no experience) is only a little over $34,000 (in Mississippi). This point is important, because it shows that teachers truly are not in it for the money. They are dedicated to your children and their education out of the goodness of their hearts.
5. Do you really believe anyone could teach? Could anyone wake up at 5:30 am, dress and head to school, plaster a chipper smile on their face, work until 3:30 with adolescents who may or may not want to be there, deal with administration and parents with the same go-get 'em attitude and continue to do so for 187 days of the year?
I know what most of you are thinking at this point...not every teacher is like this. Not every teacher is always happy. Plus, teachers get the entire summer and weekends off! No, not every teacher is like this, but I believe new teachers strive to be somewhat like this. And I believe that all teachers, regardless of experience, honestly want the best for the children they educated year in and year out. Furthermore, yes, teachers get the summer off and weekends off, this is true. Those two months off are their time to celebrate with their families and live life a bit before coming back to school and helping shape lives every single day. Teachers become attached to students, and some students become attached to their teachers, too. I know of a select few teachers from K-12 who randomly ask my mother about me or keep up with me on Facebook. How many professions do that? How many professions have such long enduring relationships that a first grade teacher keeps up with a child she taught over 15 years ago who is now graduating college? Answer: not many.
So, the next time you put down teachers and future teachers, saying they are wasting their potential, just remember that without teachers, you would not be here. You would not have had the opportunities you do without someone leading you from the time you were five. Teachers truly change the world, and it is time they be respected.
