Why do I do what I do?

Interestingly enough, a previous student who is trying to navigate the post-high school world, asked me this just the other day. At the time, I was preoccupied with something else and told her I would get back to her. I could have just given her a generic answer that one would expect from their teacher.. Something to the extent of “to help shape the minds of the leaders of tomorrow”... but although seemingly easy, this is actually a loaded question that truly deserved a well thought out and honest answer. As I went to work the next day and interacted with students, this question loomed in the back of my mind. Why did I become a teacher? 

I became a teacher to make a difference. I became a teacher because I am passionate about education. I became a teacher because I truly believe that knowledge is power and the more one knows, the better off they’ll be. I became a teacher because when I was in high school, I was uninspired - so I wanted to bring inspiration to “help shape the minds of the leaders of tomorrow” (see what I did there?). I became a teacher because throughout my entire life, I have never been able to see myself in any other career. I only have ever wanted to teach.

Teaching however, in the current societal climate is no easy task. It is impossible to make everyone happy and there is always someone (usually who has never stepped foot in a classroom) who thinks that they can do your job better than you. It is an emotionally and psychologically taxing job, primarily because as teachers we simply do not have the luxury of no longer being a teacher at the end of the school day. You never stop being a teacher. Sure, you can set boundaries such as no Teams messages after a certain time - but if a kid needs you, most of us aren’t going to ignore them. For some kids, you may be the only trusted adult in their life and trust me when I say, this is far more common than non-teachers realize. If you’re that kid's person, it’s likely you carry their stress; as much as we’d like to not, it’s next to impossible. 

So again, why am I a teacher? Because there is nothing better than watching young minds develop into their own autonomous selves or watching them have their ‘A-Ha’ moment and they finally grasp the concept they’ve been working so hard to grasp. Helping students improve their literacy, understand metacognition, learn how to write an essay and understand the importance of annotating are all joyful moments that all teachers silently (or loudly) celebrate. These moments are what makes the stress, the emotional days, the worry, the bad days, and the politics all worth it. Success, which looks different for everyone, makes doing this job completely worth it.

And although this post has allowed me to elaborate on the WHY of it all, this is more or less what I reverberated back to the student who asked. Being a teacher, is just worth it all and if I had the chance, I would not do anything different.