Why Teaching?

This is generally the first question anyone would ask an Education

student. For some, their drive is their love for children. Other candidates will say that they love

their subject. While I love high schoolers and love Social Studies, my intentions and my goals

are a little bit deeper than these other traits. By looking into my past, analyzing my current

situation and looking into the future, I have realized my focus is to give kids a person to listen

when it feels like they have no one, and to think and learn about the society around them and

how they can improve it by being good citizens. I for one did not get through school on my own.

I needed good teachers who cared about me to guide me along.

During my Junior year, I encountered a situation that no high school student should have

to encounter. My best friend, Dakotah, took his own life. He was very close with my Baseball

Coach Mr. Koele who was also the band teacher. When Dakotah passed, Mr. Koele and I grew a

lot closer over the course of the rest of the year and then into my senior year. If it wasn't for the

mentoring form Mr. Koele and the friendship we built, I don't know how I would have managed.

As a student, I learned how a teacher can impact a life. I want to be a teacher like Mr. Koele. I

want to be there for the kids who are going through hard times. I want to be there for the kids

who may not have a lot of people to support them.

When I left High School, I left thinking I was going to be a police officer that wanted to

inspire and work with youth to keep them out of trouble. While a student at Spring Arbor as a

Criminal Justice student, I came to the realization that if I wanted to affect the lives of young

people, then by the time they got to me In the CJ system it would already be too late for some of

them. However, If I could get to them before they make poor decisions and impact their lives as
a coach or as a teacher, maybe I could have a strong enough impression on them to help them

make good decisions.

Spring Arbor has prepared me to be a teacher more than I could have ever expected.

Almost every class I have taken has had a Unique perspective or insight on teaching. EDU202

kicked the education program into gear and made me realize that I wasn't in the Criminal Justice

Program anymore this was training. I couldn’t coast anymore. That intensity is preparing me to

have the discipline to be a teacher in my own classroom. In EDU242, I was taught that Being a

teacher is about being the best student first. EDU 271 taught me how important it is to pay

attention to the things that my your students unique. I never expected to be as prepared to be a

teacher than how I have been trained.

Throughout my life, different parts of my life have been leading up to me becoming a

teacher. The teacher I will be is one that inspires, loves, and leads my students. It's important that

they learn Social Studies but it is more important that they become good people who are valuable

members of their community who have someone supporting them through school. If I become a

teacher who gives kids someone to talk to when it feels like they have no one, and teaches them

to think and learn about the society around them and how they can improve it by being good

citizens, then I will be able to sleep soundly at night.