The idea of teaching to me had always been absurd. I grew up in a family of teachers. My mom taught at the elementary level, my dad at the high school, and even my step-mom taught at the middle school. My parents knew almost everything about my school life and social life throughout those years. If for some reason I thought I might get away with something, I was promptly reprimanded soon after because of a rumor they heard from another teacher or student at school. By the time I had graduated from high school, the last field I wanted to choose in college was education.

My sophomore year in college I signed a business major, with an emphasis in information systems. I was only 18 years old, and looking back on that now, I still had no idea what I was planning on doing with that major. It was just something you were supposed to do in college: choose a field, graduate, and hopefully make a lot of money. Shortly after graduation, I received a part-time position at a small company located in Bay City, Michigan. I was excited because the job was exactly what I wanted to do, train adults on software programs. The only downfall was that it was part-time, and I was looking for a more permanent position.

I started substitute teaching part-time in the fall of 1997. I only received a few calls at first, but after a while I started subbing quite frequently at one of the middle schools in town. When I started, I did it mostly for the extra income. However, I soon found that I started enjoying the kids, and I was becoming aware of the inevitable; I was thinking of going back to school to earn my secondary teaching certificate.

In the summer of 1998, my husband and I moved to Three Rivers, Michigan. I received a similar job to that in Bay City as a software trainer. However, due to a lack of public interest in training, my employer was no longer able to keep me. I began substitute teaching again in the Three Rivers and Centreville school districts. I started thinking that a classroom was perhaps where I was meant to be. Then, in October of 1998, I received a phone call offering me a permanent substitute position at the alternative high school in Three Rivers, Huss Academy. Accepting that position was close to being the best decision I have ever made. I have now been at Huss for three years, and I am currently teaching keyboarding, computers, and reading enrichment.

What was once a very scary opportunity I actually contemplated turning down, has turned out to be an extremely valuable experience for me. I work full-time in a classroom of at-risk students. I have experienced many different types of situations, both positive and negative. Most of all, this job has made me a better teacher and person because of the situations that I have been put through. On one hand, I have had students call me any name you can think of. On the other hand, I have many students thank me for being there for them. Overall, the good experiences I have had in this position far outweigh the bad.

I believe that learning should be fun. I also believe that students can understand material better if it is related to real-life situations. Understanding what teenagers enjoy and relating lessons to their lives, whether it is through the music they listen to, or the stores that they shop in, can make a confusing lesson understandable. The trick is finding the way that helps them to understand something more clearly. In addition, a variety of instructional techniques should be used. This keeps students from becoming bored, and gives them different ways of completing assignments. Both of these strategies can aid in students comprehending lessons, and I believe that this is one of my strongest assets in a classroom.

I also feel that teachers need to be strong role models for students today. We need to show students that we are concerned with all of their needs, not just educational needs. I have learned from the past three years in a classroom that if an issue comes up that needs to be discussed, such as drugs, the lesson we are currently working on can wait. It is important for a teacher to be concerned with students’ needs, both inside and outside of a classroom.

Though I did not realize it at the time, teaching was something I was born into. Something was pushing me to teach, whether it was the fact that I could not find the right job in a business career, or the luck that I received by getting a teaching job one day in the fall of 1998. I strongly feel that I was meant to teach. My students need me right now, to satisfy both their educational needs and their emotional needs. One may be more important than the other on any given day. However, I want to be the one that makes the difference in a student. I want to be the one that the student remembers years after their education is through. This is the reason I have decided to make teaching my career.