What Influenced Me to Become a Teacher
As I was growing up, choosing a career path seemed like the easiest decision I’ve ever had to make, in fact, there really was no decision that needed to be made. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always imagined that I would become an elementary teacher, it seemed natural to me. I vividly remember making my two younger brothers play ‘school’ with me. I would set up desks and papers and pretend to be their teacher and I would even pretend to grade their fake assignments, how embarrassing! Looking back now, I realize the many influences that persuaded me to become a teacher. Previous teachers, athletics, and volunteering all play a major role in my personal and emerging teacher identity.
Throughout my elementary school years, I was fortunate enough to have amazing teachers that influenced me as a person but they also influenced my decision to become a teacher myself. Every single one of my teachers at my home town elementary school were phenomenal and they all in their own way shaped who I am today. Although learning from subjects being taught, I also picked up on the values and ethics that my teachers demonstrated. There is one teacher in particular who played a major role in this decision, my grade four teacher, Mrs. Jody Jeannot. I remember my first day of grade four, I was terrified to attend her class because I had always heard that she was very strict. Soon I realized that although she was strict, she had a special way of making her classes fun yet still engaging. I hope to have the same impact on my future students the same way that Mrs. J impacted me.
Athletics have always been a major part of my life. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved to play sports and be active in any way possible. Up until about grade six I played as many sports as you can think of until I started focusing in on one particular sport that I was the most passionate about, volleyball. Ever since grade six I have been playing volleyball non-stop, I’ve played on Team Saskatchewan, Summer Games, club teams, high school teams, camps etc. There are two reasons that volleyball has influenced me to become a teacher, the first one being my coach. My coach is also a high school math teacher at my school so I’ve spent countless hours with him in between volleyball and school. Mr. Singleton is both an amazing teacher and an amazing coach, he has taught me all I know about volleyball but he has also taught me so many things that has contributed to my morals and ethics. The second reason that volleyball influenced my decision to become a teacher is because I hope to be able to coach one day. I want to be able to coach senior volleyball teams so I can get experience with young children and young adults. I want to help and coach my future athletes to feel the same love that I feel for volleyball. I aspire to even be half the teacher and coach that Mr. Singleton is.
In my last year of high school, I wanted to be involved in my community and school as much as possible. I volunteered in my schools’ grade one classroom and fell in love with everything about it. The one thing that made the whole experience that much better was the teacher that I got to assist, Velvett Mamela. Velvett is the one that made my decision to become a teacher that much easier, within the first week of being in her classroom I knew one hundred percent that this is what I wanted to do with my life. Velvett had a special way of loving her students just like her own. She made learning fun and meaningful at the same time, she was also very accepting of the children that didn’t learn the same as everyone else. I live my life around this quote, “Be somebody that makes everybody feel like a somebody” (Kid President), which is exactly what Velvett did and it’s something that I plan to carry into my daily life and teaching routine. My goal in life is to make a difference in someone’s life, I have the desire to be the teacher that my students will remember (in a good way) when they are thirty years old.
To me, teaching is more than just a job, it is a lifestyle. Becoming an elementary teacher has been my dream for as long as I can remember and I can’t wait to continue my education so one day my dream can become a reality. Through my previous teachers, sports and volunteering led me to the University of Regina to pursue a degree in elementary education. As I continue this journey, I hope to learn more about myself using my values to form my new emerging teacher identity.