I am an Elementary Education major at App State, and I have always known I have wanted to be a teacher. There is just something about the thought of being the one to teach the future doctors about science or the future lawyers about social studies and history that gets me all hyped up. I have learned that patience is key when you are a teacher, but there are just some things that test that patience, especially when it comes to the reactions I get when I tell people I want to be a teacher. I have compiled a list of some of my favorite (and most irritating) responses. I hope you enjoy.
1. “Don’t you know you’ll be poor for the rest of your life? Why would you voluntarily do that to yourself?”
I’m sorry Brenda, I must have missed the day when it was declared that money means more than happiness and excitement about your job. Sure, I know I won’t be living on the Upper East Side in New York City, and sure I know I won’t be driving that BMW X5 that I have deemed my dream car. However, there is more to life than money and material goods, so as long as I can survive on the salary I make, I will be fine. I wouldn’t trade the joy of walking into a classroom to a group of smiling students that absolutely adore you for any sum of money in the world. The reward of teaching isn’t monetary, and I am okay with that.
2. “You better marry rich!”
Just like what I said before, there’s more to life than material goods. This comment also gets my blood boiling because I am an independent woman who don’t need no man to save or support me. I do have a boyfriend and I am grateful for him and everything about our relationship, but I want to be able to support myself outside of our relationship.
3. “Why would you want to deal with other people’s children all day? Isn’t that just like glorified babysitting?”
Yes, yes it totally is. Just kidding, it is nothing like glorified babysitting, and if you ever spent any time in a classroom ever, then you would know that. If you are someone who says this and has kids in school, go spend a day in your child’s classroom and see for yourself.
4. “Why are you so stressed out about your assignments? Don’t you just, like, color and design bulletin boards all day?”
This. This statement gets me every time. No, actually, contrary to popular belief, we do not spend all day looking for coloring sheets and designing the cutest bulletin boards! Picture this: as a teacher candidate, I have to create multiple different differentiated lesson plans, execute those lesson plans, assess for understanding, and reflect on my own teaching in a high stakes assignment that determines the rest of my future as a teacher. I have to take licensure exams that equate to the SAT times about 50, and I have to manage a whole class full of students with different behavioral needs. I am not only a teacher, I am a nurse when a student falls on the playground and scrapes open his/her knee and blood is everywhere. I am a parent when a student comes to me needing love, support, and food for his/her belly because that student hasn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. I am a therapist when a student just needs an ear to listen, arms to hug, and a shoulder to cry on. I am an engineer when the students can’t get their block tower to stand just the right way without leaning. I am a ring master at a circus when it is the weekend after a break and the kids somehow seem to have forgotten the expectations and end up getting stuck in a cabinet because they thought it would be a good idea to try and fit four of them at a time in there. Or when they get a stomach ache because they thought that since their eraser smelled like a chocolate bar, that means that it is actually edible and tastes like a chocolate bar, duh, Ms. Houser. Or when one student gets stuck in a chair because he thought it was smart to stick both of them in the small part on the back that connects the back of the chair to the seat of the chair and his legs turn purple because the circulation is being cut off. I am responsible for a group of children’s safety, as well as making sure they are where they need to be academically. This means I have to make modifications to every single lesson to make sure I am reaching every single student on a level they can understand and explain. Please, tell me again how I color all day??
5. “You have so much potential, you should have gone to school to become a doctor or something.”
First of all, I hate blood and needles. Second of all, who do you think doctors became doctors or lawyers became lawyers? Teachers. That is how. Someone believed in them enough and loved them enough to invest their time in teaching them the things they needed to know to be successful. So, please excuse me for wanting to be the person to inspire young minds to be the best they can be and to achieve their dreams? My passion is for teaching young children and I don’t know why that continues to be so looked down upon.
Of all the things I could have written about in this article, but for the sake of my sanity, I had to limit it to 5. I am a future teacher and it is my passion to inspire young minds to have dreams and to make goals and to reach those goals. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a student who is struggling finally understand the material, or seeing a student realize their potential and get excited about school and learning. The teaching profession is extremely underappreciated. Please do me and every single teacher ever a favor: say thank you and appreciate the work they do every single day.