Ever since I can remember, when people would ask me, "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" I have always answered, "A teacher!" I have always said this with such enthusiasm and excitement. When it came time for me to actually plan my future, I decided, of course, that I would continue schooling to become a teacher.
Teachers have such a huge impact on a child's life. From the time you are old enough to speak, eat, and use the restroom on your own, you are sent to school. The majority of our lives are spent in learning, in and outside the classroom. I can recall the names of my teachers from pre-K through my college professors, and I truly believe it's because of the impact they have had and continue to have on my life.
Not only at school do you learn the basic curriculum that teachers are required to teach, they also teach you many life lessons. You learn a lot about how to be polite, how to act in a group of people, how to respect your peers, and other skills on how to be a decent human being. There are teachers that I would go to for life advice, relationship advice, and extra help with school work.
The majority of the time teachers really do love being teachers, or else they wouldn't do it. Teaching is hard work. They care about you, and my love for children is another reason I want to teach so badly. Whether a student is eager to learn, is scared, or has hatred toward school does not me hesitant to teach a student. I want to be the one that makes every child excited to come to school. Excited to understand something, proud of themselves for accomplishing daily tasks, and happy to be in the classroom environment.
Now, I understand that not every person truly excels in a typical classroom setting, and I fully support alternative classrooms and fast track programs, but those schools do have teachers, as well, specifically trained for students with those needs. Everyone is different, and that means teachers are, too. Odds are there is a teacher somewhere that can work around every specific need of the students that need taught.
Teaching in my eyes is one of the most personally rewarding jobs in the world. Although I have only been in "field experiences" so far (for non-education people, this is time spent in the classroom similar to short term student-teaching), I think that there is nothing more rewarding than a struggling student understanding something, a misbehaved student starting to be respectful, and an excited classroom full of little, eager brains who admire and look up to you.
