I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember.  

​

When I was in high school, and we were trying to figure out our future, I was met with “you’re too smart to be a teacher”. When I was in my undergraduate program it was more of the same: “it would be a waste for you to become a teacher”. As if being a teacher was somehow a lesser calling or only good enough as a safety net if nothing else worked out. After all – “those who cannot do, teach” (Shaw, 1903) – right? When I was set to graduate with my undergraduate degree, the professors who had guided me through the previous four years were asking what my plans were. I legitimately felt like I would be letting them down if I went into the education program. So, I went on to do other things. But there was always this nagging in the back of my head reminding me that I wasn’t doing what I wanted to be doing; what I should have been doing. It wasn’t that I wasn’t doing well at the career path opening in front of me. It just never truly fit.  

​

What I know now – what I have always felt but could not find the words to vocalize – is that teachers are special people. We are built from the desire to make things better. We strive to help students find their way. We want to bring out the best in the people who are going out into the world with us. And yes, we will teach them some traditional curriculum knowledge along the way but being a teacher is so much more than delivering content and marking tests.  

​

The sketch I have submitted illustrates that teachers are grounded in virtues that support our desire to bring out the best in our students. As we grow in our lives, develop our own pedagogies, and make connections with our students, teachers become better versions of themselves. The branches of the tree coincidentally represent the things I strive to be as a teacher and some of the characteristics I hope to inspire in my students.