Growing up I was always very athletic playing every sport accessible to me. The two sports I took competitively were figure skating and soccer. To this day I still play soccer on the University of Regina women’s soccer program. I would love to do extreme sports like quadding, snowboarding, and all water sports. With this background, I was determined that I wanted to work with athletes when I grew up. Working with so many physical therapists, athletic therapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors I was convinced that this was the right path for me. After my first year of university in the faculty of Kinesiology, I learnt that this was not the career path for me. So, this was the start of my realization of what I really wanted in life, and that is to be a teacher.
I usually got incredibly close to my coaches, whether it was in soccer or figure skating, and watching them teach me and other athletes encouraged me. My father, on the other hand, was one of my main role models. My father, who is a firefighter, was never a teacher, but he guided me from the time I was a small child until many years later. He did this by coaching me. Despite the fact that he stopped coaching me because he could not continue, he never stopped teaching me. I am also very close to my family that has two brothers, my parents, and my dog. These four people have inspired me to want to become a teacher. I have always loved children and when I got the chance to babysit children I would jump on the opportunity. I have a little brother who is nine years younger than me, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, all schools went online including his elementary school. Because his school was going online, he needed someone to educate him, so I offered to help. I found it took a lot of patience and cooperation, but once I knew that I started to enjoy it a lot more. I always admired teachers, but this really implemented the fact that I thought I could be a teacher and I want to be one.
I had many great years in elementary school with a couple of years that were not so good. The years that weren’t the best I believe taught me as many lessons as the years that were good. These years had a great impact on my childhood. I was always a child who loved going to school, and honestly the teacher I had impacted my school days a lot. I would think to myself that no matter what was going on in my life teachers could be the light in the darkness. My eighth-grade year was particularly memorable for me. My teacher made it his purpose to make our last year of elementary school the most memorable it could possibly be, and he succeeded. He took us on a number of outdoor adventures and planned a variety of activities for us to accomplish at school. For instance, he had arranged for us to go on a bike ride around Saskatoon. This bike trip included multiple stops at various locations where we learned about culture and tradition. This was a very helpful and fascinating approach for me to learn while having fun. Because he was so invested, all of us students were equally invested. In the classroom, the teaching methods were similarly as engaging, allowing the students to bond with one another and create a highly cohesive environment. I will forever remember this class and the teacher for the rest of my life, as well as having some friends from the class forever. Having this memorable experience taught me what kind of teaching environment I want to provide.
My goal is to provide a safe and inviting environment in which all students can feel safe. I want to be a teacher because I believe it is the most rewarding job there is. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that my career will have many ups and downs, but that is simply life. Something I learnt about myself that I have always loved in life is helping people I frequently find myself assisting others in their moment of need, sometimes even before myself. I had had a coach tell me that it was selfish of me to help people because it made me feel better about myself. For a long time, this statement perplexed me, and I pondered why I assisted others. Was it selfish of me to help others? Over time, I’ve realized that while helping others makes me feel good, it’s not the reason I do it. I assist individuals because they require assistance, whether physically or mentally. Personally, I believe this is an important quality in a teacher. This past year has taught me a great deal about myself and what I truly desire in life. I value the experiences I’ve had in the past since they’ve helped me prepare for the future. I believe that the knowledge I gained over my year and a half of school has also prepared me for the future. I can honestly say that I haven’t enjoyed school as much in the last one and a half years as I have in the last few weeks. This is probably due to the fact that I am driven and inspired. I’m definitely looking forward to the next few weeks in this class and beyond.