I knew ever since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Everyone in my family thought I was going to change my mind and would want to be something else, but I didn't change my mind. I was sure of choice, even at the age of seven. I knew I had a passion for it. My best friends and I, up to the end our freshman year of High School, would play "Teacher," where we would pretend that we were teachers and teach our imaginary classroom some pretty interesting lessons. We thought it was fun, other people that it was funny. Thinking back on it now, that is pretty embarrassing to admit, but hey, it just goes to show how serious I am about being an educator.
Being in college people never fail to ask me why I want to be an educator. Some of them think it is the stupidest occupation in the world, others think I am just settling or crazy. I do not know why but teaching has never been seen in respectable eyes. People always have bad things to say about it. Before it bothered me, and I would argue with people who would always have something bad to say about what I wanted to be when I grew up, but now, it does not bother me so much because I know why i want to teach so bad, whether the world understands my reasons or not.
In the earlier years of my education, I struggled as a student. Learning never came easy to me, but I always enjoyed being at school. In third grade, I was in danger of staying back because my reading and writing levels were below average. I was placed into these special "reading groups," where an instructor would take me and a few other students out of our classes so that we could work more intricately with them on our reading and writing skills. As a result of that, I became recognized as one of the best writers in my Third Grade ELA class.
In Fifth Grade is where I knew for sure that I wanted be a writing teacher. My teacher, Mrs.Archibald, was truly an inspiration. She would allow us to journal for about an hour, everyday in class, and I would write stories in mine. One day, I decided to show her a story I wrote about a puppy in my journal, and she thought it was the most creative thing she had ever seen. She was both surprised and pleased that I had taken the time to actually write a good story with a well-thought out plot. I mean I was just doing it for fun, but her encouragement and support really got me into writing more and more. I loved the feeling I got from writing and I wanted to share that with other people so bad. From that moment on, I knew it was destiny that I had to be a teacher.
Most of people's lives are spent in school, studying and learning. It breaks my heart to hear so many people that I know or grew up with say, at one point in their lives how much they hate or hated school, how much the teachers sucked, or even how much they thought school was a waste of time. I've had bad experiences in school myself, but not so many that I felt like school was no longer important. I can honestly say that the majority of my teachers have been nothing less than influential, and those teachers that I did or do have that are not the greatest, are only teaching me what I, as a future educator, can do better when i have my very own classroom.
I want to be an educator for several reasons but there are three big reasons that come to mind that I'd like to share with you all. One, being an educator means that i am given the power to shape and polish the minds of so many young people, young people who will eventually have the responsibility of making sure the future is well taken care of. That is some crazy power! If I am able to make sure that every student who is taught by me learns something valuable and useful, then I feel as though giving myself a purpose in world and accomplishing something with true significance. Its a cliche, but education is the key to success and it is also the key to progress, and that is what makes the universe special. Two, while being an educator I have the opportunity of fixing as well as improving the educational system. There are so many things that could be done with how students are taught to learn in learning environments, and well, I have so many ideas. Being a student now, I recognize the struggles others may have while trying to learn. My main goal as an educator is to make sure that no student of mine feels incapable of learning due to the strict content frameworks and assessments that are imposed on them. No child should even feel incapable and it is my job to accommodate to their needs, no matter how difficult or challenging it may be. Every students' learning style is important and valued in my eyes, and no child should be left unheard or silenced in my presence of teaching. And thirdly, to be an educator means that I am helping young people become better people than they were before they walked into my classroom. Teaching is NOT one-dimensional. It involves being an mentor, a guidance counselor, a friend, and sometimes even a protector, all the roles i work hard to prefect myself in.
So, if I am approached with the question of "Why do you want to be an educator?" I simply say who wouldn't want to be an educator?
