You, Too, Can Be a Teacher
How I Became a Teacher
I’ve always loved writing and reading, but I never thought about becoming a teacher. (This is the part where I thank my parents for not putting me in school until third grade.) In high school, I was one of those kids who got an “A” in everything. My GPA was through the roof! My teachers loved me and my parents were proud of me. But back then, it wasn’t something that came to mind: Maybe I could be a teacher someday! Let’s get started here: How did you become a teacher? What types of classes did you enjoy? Did you like helping people learn new things? Or maybe it’s hard for you to answer that question, because you just love learning about everything. That’s how it is with me. It’s impossible for me to choose just one subject over another because they’re all so interesting to learn about! To give myself more options in college, I double-majored in biology and psychology.
I have a bad memory and recall very little from the classes I’ve taken, but I do remember a few things. When a class started to get boring, I would start writing in my journal. It was a great way to keep myself entertained! In my biology classes, we had this huge textbook that took up half of the desk. We also had some online resources for more information. This is how most people learn new things: they read something and then discuss it with others who have the same subject matter as them. In high school, most of our discussions were about math concepts or physics problems that we didn’t understand. It’s the best way to learn new things about a subject, but it isn’t something that I enjoy doing. I like reading, but not for the purpose of learning. As someone who loves writing and reading, I knew this could be my future career!
My Writing Journey
As one of those students who were also English teachers’ favorites, I was hired as an assistant for my high school’s online magazine. It was a great experience working with high school students because they’re so enthusiastic about learning new things! My teacher found out what kind of writer I was and asked me to write some articles for her next year’s biology textbook. She wanted me to make them more appealing by adding some humor to them. So every day after school for three months, I wrote stories about genetics and cell biology.
They were all published in one chapter called “Genetics is Fun!”. As soon as it came out, my friends told me that most people didn’t care if they even read that chapter because most people don’t really need all the information in there! But at least my stories made genetics a little more interesting to read! It gave me confidence when writing became something that wasn’t just part of homework assignments anymore: Maybe this could be a career someday too? Being an English major in college has been amazing! Even though our workload is heavy sometimes (I’m taking seven classes right now), we get rewarded with fun projects like writing blog posts or making videos on silly topics. I was recently hired as a staff writer for my college’s bi-weekly newspaper, and I love it! Every day, I write an article about whatever interests me. Sometimes those articles are on topics that some people don’t find interesting, but at least I’m learning about them and helping others learn at the same time!
The Job of a Teacher
I know that some teachers have to deal with overcrowded classrooms or noisy school hallways. But if there was any profession out there that everyone would be happy to work in every day, it would be teaching. Teachers get paid for working with students who want to learn new things. The best part of being a teacher is knowing how happy you’ve made someone else by doing what you love most: writing! It’s been almost three years since I graduated from high school, but my mind is still stuck back then: How can we make education more fun? Writing is one way we can do this! Even though many people complain about having to take classes they hate (like math), writing is an important skill everyone needs in order to succeed later on in life.
If you enjoy writing, then it’s good to know that there are careers out there that require you to write. The best thing about it is even if your writing isn’t good enough, you can always improve and make it better!
