Why I Want To Be A Teacher

          Growing up I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a career.   However, I did know what I did NOT want to do, teach! I have a family of teachers, my husband, mother in-law, father in-law, brother in-law, and sister in-law.  My slogan has always been “I do not like other people’s kids”.  I love my own, but other people’s kids are not as nice or well behaved as mine.   I just wanted to be a mother; I thought the rest I’d figure out later.  I earned my degree in Business with a minor in Art.  I thought it was a safe degree, and with it I could get a job anywhere. 

            I earned my Real Estate License right out of high school and that was my summer job between semesters in college.  When I graduated college I continued to sell real estate until I could not stand the lies and dishonest people anymore!  By this point I was pregnant with my 2^nd child, and for the next7 years I was a stay at home wife and mother.  And loved every minute of it!

            Three years ago I was sitting on a pew in Church and my pastor was talking about a couple who had recently passed away.  He was saying how they were new to our church, but they had jumped right in and were very involved.  I can remember sitting there thinking the same thing I have thought a hundred times, ‘I wish there was something I could do in the church.’  But what could I do, I had (at the time) a 5-yr old, 3-yr old, and 1 ½-yr old.  I couldn’t cook on Wednesday nights, couldn’t run errands for people or take them places,  or any other thing I could think of.  I thought, ‘I’ll just have to wait until my children were older.’   That was Sunday, Tuesday I received a letter from my pastor telling me he had been led by the Lord to ask me to take over a Sunday school class! 

            My first thought was “YES”.  Not because I was excited, but because you do not pray for something, have God answer you in a letter from your pastor and then say “well I don’t like that, what else you got?”  My next thought was, “Noooooo, I don’t want to!!  I don’t like other people’s kids!  I’m not qualified, what do I know?”  And about a million other negative thoughts.  But of course I took the position, and it has changed my life!  I LOVE teaching!  I LOVE other people’s kids!  I can’t imagine my life without teaching in it.  Looks like God knows what he’s doing after all!   

            When my 3^rd and final child started a half day pre-school program I started volunteering at my other two children’s school (Romeo Elementary) one day a week.  Just to get my foot in the door, my face around school.  Thinking later on when I tried to get a job there it would help me out.  A few months later I went through the sub program and started subbing, again just to get my face known.  The school was calling me asking me to sub before my paper work had even gone through.  I subbed 3 times, when they asked me to take over a first grade class for the last two 9 weeks.  My first thought was no, because of my youngest child.  But they kept calling me and after praying about it and working out a way for my father in-law to watch my son, I took the job.  It was a blessing and I loved it!  Romeo asked me to take a Kindergarten position this year for a 2 year leave of absence.  Again I absolutely love it, and can’t think of anything else I would rather do. 

            Kindergarten is the place for me!  I love seeing the ‘light bulbs’.  When a child learns something new, you can see the light bulb click on in their heads and that light shine out through their eyes.  It is an addicting and amazing sight!  You see more ‘light bulbs’ in kindergarten than any other grade.  I hope to stay in kindergarten for many years.