Ever since I was a little girl, I had always entertained the idea of becoming a teacher. As I grew older, I explored more career options, but teaching never left my mind. When I first started college, I was majoring in psychology and I was dead set on becoming a psychologist. It took one semester for me to realize that this was not the field of study that I should be in, and so I switched my major to education. A number of snarky looks and negative comments I receive from people who ask me what I am going to school for amazes me. I hear things like “I don’t see you being a teacher”, “Do you really want to be a teacher, do you know how much they get paid?” Or my favorite “Why don’t you go to school for something that will make you money, like nursing.” Though I appreciate everyone’s opinion on what I should be doing with MY Life, stop. Like my sociology teacher once told me “Everyone has a calling, a path they should take in life. I could wake up one morning and want to be a doctor and then the next day decide I want to be something else. You can’t just do something for the amount of money you will be making on your paycheck. You have to find a job that you are passionate about, something you will love waking up to in the morning.” I believe I am on the right path that my life should be on. I have never once regretted my choice of majoring in education. I have never once asked myself if teaching was what I really wanted to be doing. It’s my calling and I will answer to it. So here is an open letter from an education major.

Dear Negative Nellie,

I get it, your idea of fun isn’t making lesson plans, grading test papers, or being around kids every day. You don’t think that the pay is good enough to even consider working as an educator, and that’s fine, but what about what I think? To me it's not about the amount of money that will be written on my paycheck, it’s about the kids. In my classroom, they won’t be “just another passing grade."They will be authors, scientist, artist, historians, bibliophiles, mathematicians, and so much more, but never just kids. It will be my job to teach them and to give them the very best education that they deserve. Without educators where would we, as a society, be? If there weren’t any educators then who would teach your kids, your grandkids, and more importantly who would have educated you? It’s time people stop discouraging future and present teachers and start thanking them for all of their hard work and dedication.

At the end of the day, despite what people say about teaching, I am proud to be an education major. I am proud to know that one day I will be the person educating the new generation or young people. I am proud to know that I will one day change the lives of many because education is must more than just a major and teaching is much more than just a job.