During these nineteen years of my existence, I have come to learn many important things in life and how today’s world works. It seems quite cliche to say, but no matter what there will be tomorrow whether I like it or not. These past few years have definitely been a struggle for me, I began to lose my way for a little bit and it was very hard on me and my parents. But the biggest thing for me was the people around me. I find joy in making other people happy and that is why I wanted to become a teacher. It was not until I was sitting at home during this pandemic going to online school, and not being able to go out, that I realized that I wanted to become a teacher. Being an athlete as well as a student your whole life, you come to realize that your teachers, coaches, other parents as well as your own, are the ones that impact you the most as a person.
Throughout life, you come to learn that life is not always sunshine and rainbows, with light there will always be dark. I’m a Star Wars fan if you could not tell with that, but the one thing I can take away from that is. The thing that defines most people is their journey from the dark patch in their life back towards the light. One of the quotes I live by is one that my hockey coach told me a few years ago and he said probably one of the weirdest things I have ever heard but it sticks with me for some reason. He said that “life was like trying to roll spaghetti up a hill, it’s really fucking hard but you can do it.” At the time, I was like what is this guy saying this might be the dumbest thing I have ever heard. But it is something that sticks with me till this day. This is the impact I want to have on people over time
During my educational journey that has so far started at Henry Janzen Elementary School, and is now at the University of Regina, the most important thing I have ever learned in life came from my first grade class. If you didn’t know, I am the type of kid who hates being bad at something whether it is fantasy football, video games, rock paper scissors, you name it. It was not until recently that I noticed I have always been this way. In that first grade class of mine there was a reading time, and during this time you would read a book that was at your level, because at the start of the year, we did like a test to see what your reading level was. I believe I placed at level eight and it went all the way to twenty, even though eight was not that bad considering I was only seven or eight years old. So instead of reading the books I was assigned to I said screw that I am reading the hard books, and I ended off the year at the highest level. My grade one teacher then said to me that she put me at that level because she knew I needed the push to get me to the highest level. She told me that she knew I would get to the highest level if there were others above me and I could be good at anything if I tried as hard as I could.
Even today, I still look back at that very memory of a teacher who believed in me even though it is her job to teach us, as another reason why I want to become a teacher. I may not be that same kid from over ten years ago, I have definitely fallen off of that track a few times. For example during the early parts of COVID, I felt as if I was living in a trance just waking up and not being productive after losing almost all of my motivation towards school. I have always been told that I can be a smart kid when I want to be and it is the motivation that I lack. I think that finally finding the education program at the University of Regina as something I want to pursue with my full heart is what has finally pushed my nineteen year old self back into that eight year old kid mindset who could do anything when he tried. The little things that each teacher and mentor has left me with Is really what makes teaching so important.
It is the moments and the everlasting memories you can leave with students through teaching that makes me want to become one. My parents today still talk about the impact that teachers have played in their lives. Being an educator whether it is a teacher, coach or mentor is something I have always loved doing. Seeing other people engaged in what you are saying or seeing someone enjoy what you are saying or doing is what really drives me. I am very excited about this new journey in my life as it has just begun. I am excited to see the developments and improvement in my own life as well as school. As soon as this semester began, it is as if I am seeing my own path begin before me. And I have not been this proud of myself in a while.