Becoming a teacher, no matter the grade, is one of the most amazing things someone could do with their life. While most people want to finish school and leave, we go to school to be able to go back. With that being said, there is still talk about how becoming a teacher is "something to do if you cannot do anything else", but it is way more than that.
Becoming a teacher is teaching students who may grow up to become the next president, the next CEO, or even the next person to perform your heart surgery. Teaching is about shaping young minds so they can become future leaders. They learn responsibility, leadership, and appreciation as well as their math facts and grammar rules all within the span of thirteen years. As students go from grade to grade, they have people who care about them enough to come as early as 6:30 a.m. or 7:00 a.m. in the morning to make sure their classroom is set up before their kids get inside. We show them the same respect we want them to have for us. We want them to know we value them when maybe no one else does.
Becoming a teacher means being able to teach students from all different walks of life. In the same second grade classroom there could be a child on a kindergarten reading level and another at a fifth-grade reading level. We want to be able to let kids do the best they can. We want to show them they can do whatever they set their minds to. It doesn't matter if they come from the poorest neighborhood or the richest suburb, we treat them all with the same dignity they deserve.
Becoming a teacher also means being able to respond to other people who do not know what it takes to become a teacher. If someone were to pay money to become a person with one of the lowest paying college majors in the country, you would think it would be because they wanted to, and not because it's the only job left. Teachers are regularly buying extra materials and supplies for the students who may not have the money. They stay after school to make sure the kid failing their class gets the extra help they cannot afford to get somewhere else. Teachers are like the superheroes in the background, saving kids one lesson at a time.
If you were to ask any education major why they want to become a teacher, their answer would probably include how much they want to be able to teach kids to grow and help them become the best athlete, doctor, or even teacher they want to be. Becoming a teacher is about more than getting summers off and other holidays, it is about being with kids and making them the citizens of tomorrow, one class at a time.
For an amazing video that further explains this article, click here.
