Why I Chose To Be An Education Major

A common question asked while you’re in college is "What are you studying?" When I am asked this question, and I answer with elementary education, I get the same reaction and responses. With confused looks as if I said something wrong, people say “God Bless you,” “Why would you do that to yourself?”, “Good luck with that,” and “What made you want to do that?” For me, the answer is so simple and I wonder why everyone doesn’t choose to be an educator. I am an education major because of the difference that I will make in a young person's life. In my eyes there is nothing more rewarding then that.

Yes, I know teachers don’t get paid nearly as much as they should. You don’t need to continue to tell education majors this. Unlike most people in this world, we clearly aren’t in this profession for the money.

Yes, I know that it is not an easy job by any means. You have to deal with a wide variety of different individuals and each person brings their own sort of challenge. Lucky for me, I don’t like when things are easy. I like a challenge, and I am fully aware that each day will be filled with different challenges.

Wait… you mean that you get the entire summer off? Yup. I don’t think I need to say anything else about that one.

Having an education and being educated is one of the most important things to me. As a teacher, one of my goals is to share my passion for education with my students and also to encourage them to also have this passion for education. Nothing is more attractive than knowledge, am I right?

One of the reasons I chose to be an education major is actually a little selfish. As much as the teacher impacts the child’s life, the child also impacts the teacher’s life just as much, if not more. Children teach us so many things about the world we live in and even about ourselves. Being around children makes me happy and carefree, which I oftentimes forget to do. I decided I wanted to teach for the impact that the children will also have on me.

I oftentimes joke that after I graduate with my undergraduate degree, I will continue to go back to school forever because I am a good student and I am good at school. Unlike what many people think, teachers don’t know everything. They are still required to learn just as much as the children in order to teach them and evolve with the way education progresses. As a teacher, I can be a student forever.

Growing up, I always got more excited about school supplies than I did about a new outfit for school. Now, for the rest of my life, I can buy the coolest school supplies and however much of it I want. Trust me, as a 20-something-year-old teacher, I will be just as excited as when I was in the first grade.

Who wouldn’t want to search on Pinterest for hours (as if there was any other way to search on Pinterest) to find the cutest and catchiest bulletin boards? With a simple Pinterest search, you can find millions of bulletin boards for every occasion. Pinterest will most definitely ensure that you have the cutest board in the entire school.

As long as there are people in this world, we will need teachers to educate them. Becoming a teacher is like job security. Once you get your first job and you continue to do it right, you shouldn’t have any problems keeping it.

The list of why I want to be an educator can continue to go on, but the most important reason to me is to be a difference maker in a child’s life. Some children will enter your classroom having everything they could ever imagine, while others will barely have enough to get by. For some students, the school will be their “safe zone” where they can forget about everything that goes on at home. Some students will look to their teacher for guidance because they don’t have anyone at home to look to for guidance. Some of your students will only get a guaranteed roof over their head and food in their bellies at school. For some of your students, the seven hours they spend at school each day will be the best seven hours of their lives because it’s a safe and secure environment. Who wouldn’t want to be that person who guides, loves, and inspires our future? I want to be the person that continually loves my students unconditionally, who encourages them to dream as big as they can imagine, and who makes a difference in their lives, especially if they don’t have anyone else to.

For me, being a teacher is more then the lack of pay, the “trouble children,” and getting the summers and holidays off, but don’t get me wrong, that part's still nice.