Every single day since the end of my junior year, every adult I interacted with has asked me: “So what are you going to do with your life after high school, what’s going to be your job?” I always dreaded being asked this. Because once I said “I’m going to be an elementary school teacher” I was met with looks that basically were saying “are you serious?” And then I would be asked a million and one questions, every person asked me the same questions and I always gave the same answers. If people who are going into fields of business, law, or government don’t have to defend their reasoning for what their profession will be, why do I have to? If you are a future teacher, then you have probably heard some of these questions/statements before.

Question/statement number one: Really?

Yes, really, why would I lie about what I want to do with my life?

Question/statement number two: Oh so you like kids?

Obviously I like kids if I’m choosing a profession where I will literally be surrounded by them all of the time.

Question/statement number three: So are you ready to be poor?

Yes. Thank you. I already know that teachers don’t make a lot of money, but thanks for reminding me just in case I ever forget. I may end up being poor money wise but in other ways I will be rich. I will be rich in smiles, in love, in laughter, in happiness, in hugs and much, much more. What other profession will you be able to receive all of this on a daily basis? To me, that richness is enough. Money is not the source of happiness people!

Now my favorite question/statement of all, number four: “Those who can, do, those who can’t, teach.”

EXCUSE ME SIR. Look at where you are in your life now. How did you get there? How do you know how to do what you need to do at your job? If you are in a business position, you probably went to college to learn how to do what you do. And in college you had to go to classes, and those classes were led by people who obviously know what they are doing. And who leads those classes? OH THAT’S RIGHT TEACHERS! So before you open your ignorant mouth again, saying that people who don’t know how to do anything teach, think of the people who got you to where you are today, among those people are obviously teachers who know how to do what you do now. And to be honest, they can probably do it better than you. So you are wrong, those who can, do and those who can, also teach.

Question/statement number five: Oh, most people I know that went into teaching hated it and changed what they did, so you probably will too.

Ever since I started going to school, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Every day I would come home and line up all my stuffed animals and dolls and “teach” them what I learned in school that day. I would even make up homework assignments and little quizzes for them to do, and yes, I did grade those things. I would even hold parent- teacher conferences. In high school, I had the opportunity to assist an elementary school teacher on a daily basis, that solidified the idea of me becoming a teacher even more. So no, I will not be changing my mind.

Question/statement number six: Why do you want to be a teacher?

Now for every future teacher it is something different. You probably had an extremely influential teacher in your life, I did not, and that is why I want to be a teacher. I got bullied throughout elementary school, and not once did a teacher who saw it happening ever stand up for me or help me. Some days I didn’t want to go to school because of it. I don’t want another child to have to ever go through that again. I want to be able to make someone feel safe and happy to come to school. Teachers are supposed to be there for you and help you, not just in an educational sense. I want to be that teacher. I cannot wait for the day where I have a student tell me I helped them love school. I cannot wait for the day where a student who has been struggling to understand something finally gets it and, to see that light flash in their eyes when they do, well that will be the most rewarding feeling ever.

So to all future teachers, don’t be discouraged by the naysayers or by the people who question your abilities. You keep doing you, you’re going to be an incredible teacher and make an amazing impact on someone’s life one day.