Do you remember who it was? Probably. It's difficult to forget the first educator who believed in you, but more than that, made you believe in yourself.

Mine was in sixth grade. My English teacher — lovingly called Mrs. V due to her lengthy last name — pulled me aside one day. “Jenni, I want you to do a special project."

“Why? What did I do?" She then assured a nervous 12-year-old this project was not a punishment but something else entirely.

“I think you've got it. Your writing is good, and I'm not just saying you've got all your commas in the right place. You have real talent."

Talent. The word that has followed me, motivated me and frightened me to this day. I would like to think I would have spent my middle school years re-writing “Gossip Girl" episodes—replacing the main characters with my friends and me—or attempting pre-teen romance novels, whether Mrs. V had said anything to me or not. But I can't. Her encouraging words got me here, writing to you now.

Odds are that you have an education major friend. Take this time to thank them. Thank them for choosing a profession requiring an abundance of patience and a unique compassion for children.

On a daily basis, they take on challenges that we, as future parents, dread: the tearful tantrums of toddlers to the hindering awkwardness of middle-schoolers to the false arrogance of high-schoolers. They're not doing it for the money or recognition, obviously. What a refreshing concept — doing something you genuinely care about instead of in pursuit of a large paycheck. (I can say this because I'm a business major.)

Get rid of the idea that anyone could be a teacher because it is not true. Teaching takes a special kind of person. (And be honest, you could not handle America's youth for five minutes.) What no one wants to admit is they don't have what it takes to be a good teacher.

We need to rid our country of its toxic stigma against educators. What we don't fully realize is, as we scoff at the workload of education majors, we are doing a disservice to ourselves and our futures. If we continue to belittle their work and discourage teaching as a viable or even respectable career path, our hypothetical children will be idiots. Worse, these idiots will be left to take care of us when we're ancient. Isn't that terrifying?

Teachers spend the most amount of time with children besides their parents, and if we're being honest, sometimes they witness more day-to-day milestones than a parent ever will. Educators are the forgotten heroes, the role models, the person you accidentally call "Mom" in second grade and never really forget. But, in all seriousness, these are the people your children will spend their formative years with.

And it's considered a back-up major? Please.