Most people ask me:

“Why in the world would you want to be a teacher?

“Where is the money in that?”

“What are you going to do with a BS in English?”

Let me tell you; I don’t care what others have to say about my career choice because it’s mine. When you’re a teacher, you get to create an atmosphere and a structure that is entirely your own. Not one teacher teaches the same, and not one teacher is the same. Of course, we all have to follow the same policies, guidelines, curriculums, etc to keep the paychecks coming, but we get to do it all in our own unique way.

English has always struck me as a very expressive and free topic. The things that you learn in the class are very relaxed and almost seem to go in no particular order. In a math class, you would have to go chapter by chapter, quiz by quiz, test by test, day by day.

In English, it’s like you step in the classroom and it’s like a whole other world. It’s like “what new things will I discover today? What new images and symbols can I find?” Since I discovered that I wanted to be an English teacher, I have been studying the way that my teachers would act and teach their lessons.

All of them had one thing in common: they were free spirited.

You could ask any question, you could say almost anything, and they would listen with an open mind and open heart. There was never a wrong answer and that’s how I want my classroom to be run. I want kids to walk in every day and (hopefully) feel excited to be at school. I want them to know that my classroom is a safe space free of judgment and free of all the anxiety of the outside world.

My main goal is to be that teacher that everyone talks about in a positive way and I want to be the teacher that everyone wants. I want to be the teacher that has older and younger siblings and for the older sibling to say, “she’s such a fun teacher! You’ll love her! I did!” and then go on to say all the fun stuff they did in class and all the assignments they’ll be doing.

You may not feel like you have control all the time, but that’s okay. There will be days that you feel like quitting your job, but then there will be days that you are so grateful to have chosen this profession. Teachers are really taken for granted it seems. People always say how teaching is a dead end job and that you won’t ever make any money pursuing it.

But what do they know?

They could be a garbage man, or a plumber, or even that guy who you hire to clean out your gutters because you're too lazy to do it yourself.There is a job for everything and everyone.Sometimes, people are stuck in jobs they don’t wish to be in because maybe they have no other choice, Ya know? But, there are the people who love going to their job and look forward to it every day.

That’s how I feel about teaching.

I want to inspire kids to want to learn and to not hate coming to school. There are some teachers I have had that have made me dread coming to school and coming to their class.Teaching may not be the richest profession, but it’s rewarding.You get to work with amazing groups of kids every day, and you get to fill their heads with knowledge of today, tomorrow, and yesterday.

My advice?

Find that profession you love.

Go to school.

Learn about it.

Become fluent in that “language”.

Don’t do something for the money, do it because you love it.

Find your passion and hold onto it.

Don’t be a doctor because your dad wants you to and don’t go to a certain college because your mom went there.

You do you everyday.

I want to be a teacher because that is my true passion.

I want to teach others what I have learned and I want them to appreciate what I know.

This is your life, so you have to do what YOU want to do, or you will never truly be living.