The question of questions.
Why did you become a teacher? A cook? A trainer? An electrician?
I wish I paid attention to how many times I have been asked this before
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My journey to both becoming and enjoying being a teacher are two separate paths that I am grateful, have intertwined. I knew I wanted to be a teacher for quite some time and it became more evident to me throughout Grade 8. I was lucky to have been in the presence of 2 great teachers who made me feel like I was enough and inspired to make others feel this way too by sharing by knowledge and wisdom.
When I was in high school, there were always other job opportunities that entered my mind and toyed with me, but I felt like I stuck to teaching because honestly, it felt safe. Now I know what you're saying or thinking; what a horrible thing to say, chase after your big dreams, being safe doesn't mean you're living life to the fullest, yeah, I get it, I've heard this all before. But I wasn't unhappy to stick with teaching, it was a decision I made that I wanted to and left behind my desires to be a lawyer (criminal law had my heart), a writer and editor for magazines, or a broadcast journalist.
I finished university with 2 degrees and thanks to French being one of them I was offered a full-time permanent position almost instantly out of graduating.
I wish I could say that after being hired everyone lived happy ever after and I found my calling. So wrong.
Truth be told, I hated my first two years of teaching and was ready to throw in the towel. I visited a few college open houses in my second year of working to pursue being a broadcast journalist. There were so many things in the career of teaching that were constantly thrown my way that I was not strong enough to handle and just really didn't feel like it was fair to have to go through. It's not to sound ungrateful; I just had so many obstacles thrown at my face. I felt like I wasn't a good enough teacher, I was constantly questioned by parents for being so young, I felt like I was always 2 steps behind everyone else. Given my personality type, this was not okay with me.
But something held me back... I felt like I owed myself one more chance. Turns out in this case, third time was quite the charm. I had an excellent year and felt like I could finally see my growth. I was starting to really pinpoint my strengths and teaching styles and improve where I felt short. I focused on building genuine connections with my students and started to immerse myself in learning outside of the workplace that I brought in, focusing on community building, well-being, and mental health.
In the last 3 years of teaching, I have developed so many things in my classroom that I openly share with others. I spend a lot of time building community, I learn from others, I create meaningful resources, I listen to my students with an open heart and an open mind, I am a caregiver first and a teacher second, I make the student my focus instead of the curriculum. This might sound obvious but when you begin your teaching journey there is so much thrown at you that it takes you a while to pick it all up and organize; 2 years for me.
So this is why I am a teacher.
I feel like I am truly able to give back to others and inspire youth to do the same.
I feel like I have the gift of sharing and inspiring others.
I feel like I have so much to give and an environment where it is gladly taken.
I feel like I am always challenged and given opportunities for growth and learning.
I feel like I am always meeting new people who inspire me and teach me.
If there is one thing, one takeaway that I can leave you with here, it's to know that the path is very rarely straight and easy. Trust your instincts, accept things as they are and with an open heart, and don't be afraid to learn from others.
So, the questions of questions...what's your why?