Growing up deciding what I wanted to do for the rest of my life seemed easier to decide at a young age when I had the hopes and dreams of doing anything that made loads of money. It shortly came to my attention with age that it was a lot harder to make this decision than I had anticipated. Realizing what my strengths were, what I would strive in, and most importantly what I had grown to be passionate about and could continue to be passionate about as a career.
From a young age, I had always been the child that enjoyed the company of others; talking, laughing, adventure, etc. This personality of mine always stuck with me, growing to be a leader, and using my voice to take the initiative in whatever I was doing whether that be in extracurricular activities, in the classroom, or just at the park. My parents always pushed me to use my characteristics to do better in the world, or help others. This was why at the age of twelve, I began playing volleyball. Where my voice and leadership skills could strive in, including my athletic abilities. Never would I have guessed back then that this sport would pave me to becoming an educator, but I had to wait to figure that out for myself.
I played for all my schools from grade six to grade twelve. Not till I was in grade ten at Campbell Collegiate did I realize I had the most inspiring coach and teacher. Tania Harrison was a teacher at my high school before I began attending it, but I took private volleyball lessons from her but hadn’t gained a true connection and relationship with her quite yet. That wasn’t until about grade nine when I got brought up to play on her senior team late in the season. Where then it continued for three straight years with her as my coach on the senior team. She became one of the best role models I could have had in my life; an ex women’s cougar volleyball player, an active/productive lifestyle, strived for success as a teacher and a coach, a bubbly but welcoming personality, and a belief in every student or player that there was potential for growth.
Without a doubt, probably 99% of Campbell’s students enjoyed her presence, or as a teacher; everyone knew her, and every student no matter whether they enjoyed school, sports, or music or not they loved her and felt welcomed by her. Which is a feeling I believe a teacher should strive for their students to have. From spending time with her in her classes in my spare, I noticed how she ran things in her classroom; which was the gymnasium. The way she included everyone, described her lessons, and helped to grow each student. I could learn a lot by watching her teaching. I never experienced what I saw her do in her classes, as I never was one of her students, but I had first-hand experience with her teaching through volleyball and her coaching me. Her coaching is related to her teaching in ways some might not imagine coaching would do, but it is relatively the same thing. Just possibly a bit different outcomes and expectations in the end. I experienced her throughout all of my high school career, the way she created relationships with everyone.
In grade eleven, the second last year of her as my coach. I had to decide on a profession to tell my chosen university to play volleyball. Stress overflowed on me, so first I talked to my parents. Talking with my parents they asked various questions of course. Though, no matter what I said about “Oh I wanna make good money,” they always seemed to mention me being a teacher. Saying how they could see me doing that, or how others could as well. As the idea of being a teacher brewed up in my head, I constantly couldn’t stop thinking about if that’s what I truly wanted. So of course I went to talk to Tania about it. Her responses weren’t vague but in summary, she enjoyed the idea of getting to go to work every day and getting to help some kid grow and get better in life. Of course, now being a physical education teacher, she loved it because she mostly got to be doing activities for her job. She didn’t choose her profession for the money, but for the environment of being in a school, with colleagues, and students of a wide variety. After speaking with her, and then visualizing her life as my own, I could feel that being a comfort of mine in the future. With all this in mind, I thought over everything over the next few days, and eventually, I decided. I decided I was going to become a teacher. Then was the deciding what type of teacher I wanted to become. Without hesitation, I said to myself, “I want to be Tania.” I decided on secondary education, majoring in math and minoring in physical education; just like her. Having this tight bond with her as both a teacher and a coach, she was the first of few I told. Not only telling her my decision, but what I was going in for and how much she has contributed as a role model I wanted to become.
After making that decision, I reflected on why I knew this was right for me. One, I believed I had the personality skills to be able to teach; being open-minded, respectful, optimistic, helpful, and cheerful. Secondly, I just knew that because Tania was always my role model there was a reason for that. But almost just as important, was when I realized how much I had already been teaching when I coached beach volleyball, and how much I enjoyed being able to give back and see the growth of development in each kid. Even if it was slowly. I knew volleyball, and the relationships it paved for me in life are the reasons I am in the studies to become an educator.