In everyone’s life they have a story of how it all began, where it all started, and who influenced the person they became. I think it is quite fascinating to hear someone else’s story and see how they got to where they are today. My name is Nolan Budz, I am from Yorkton, Saskatchewan. My whole life has been surrounded with many extracurricular activities, family, friends, teachers, and the jobs that have shaped me into the person that I am today.
My love for sports started right off the start. At the age of 3 I learned how to skate at the preeceville rink with my dad. My dad had played hockey his whole life so enrolled me and my older brother in it. Through my extracurricular activities I have developed into a strong young man mentally, physically and emotionally. Over the years my love for hockey grew more and more, the feeling I got on the ice was amazing. I wanted to give other kids that same feeling and opportunity so I become a coach. When I was 13 years old, my older brother and I opened our own personal hockey training business. We both loved the idea of helping kids reach their potential and become the best players possible. At the age of 13, I got my first chance to work as a coach one on one with kids, and I loved it. It made me happy to watch kids reach their potentials and see them grow, develop and become better and better every day. My first thoughts of becoming a teacher and working with kids started through training in our personal business. One day while I was working with a kid by the name of kale Gorski he said: “I want to come here rather than anywhere else, you are a great teacher”. This comment made me realize that this job wasn’t just impacting myself it was also impacting the kids I worked with and I was having so much fun with it. That is when I realized I could do this for the rest of my life. My teaching experiences continued through the Hockey route as I helped at hockey camps, as well as developed into a hockey coach. My passion and love for the game and the kids carried me to become a certified hockey coach. “One day you are going to make a great coach”, is what my dad often told me, this would always stick in the back of my head as my passion for working with kids continued to grow.
My parents are both educators already and they have influenced me and who I am today. I always looked up to my dad and loved how after school I would go into his office and he would be hugging a kid or making a kid laugh. The connections and relationships he made with kids always amazed me and I often wondered how it was even possible. It also got me wondering why couldn’t I make that good of relationships with people? My father has been the biggest inspiration to me, in school and outside of school. He has been a major part of me wanting to become a teacher. One day I was walking to his office when I heard “Mr. Budz, Mr. Budz”, I just thought oh well my dad is helping someone like usual. This time was so much different, there was a group of about 15 girls giving my dad a group hug and telling him how he’s the best. This didn’t seem like a big deal but how much the girls meant to him and how big of an impact he made on their lives was inspirational and made me realize I wanted to make those connections and relationships with kids too. My grade 7 teacher, Mr. Edgar had also made a huge impact on me. He didn’t just teach us how to be successful students but also how to be successful in life. He was well-liked by everyone in the class and made a different unique relationship with everyone. That is the way I wanted to teach. He was a role model to me and his ways of teaching were exactly how I wanted to be. He would constantly remind us “If you are going to be successful you can’t quit, no matter how much you want to you have to find that extra urge and keep going”. I want to be the type of teacher who will teach my students to be better but also be able to have fun with the students. Mr. Edgar was all about equality, there were no favourites in his class, he liked everyone in a new way, he found ways to teach everyone in different so people enjoyed his class. Equality, building positive relationships and making sure every kid is heard and has the right way to learn are just a few of the things he taught and believed in. I saw all this and learned from it, which is why he made such a tremendous impact on me.
This past summer I wanted to finally come to a conclusion, Is teaching for me? I worked at the boys and girls club in Yorkton to put myself in as close of teaching scenario as I could. I wanted to pursue my path of working with kids and developing as a teacher. I had put so many community hours into coaching, training and working with kids but that wasn’t the same as being in an environment with thirty kids teaching them new things every day. Teaching in a school is a whole different ball game but it was the closest experience as I could get. What I learned was that some days are harder than others. Some days you just don’t want to be there and others you don’t want to leave. Overall the experience for me was great. I became a better leader and learned how to take control. I treated the kids with respect and I had fun with them. As a result, I made many lifelong relationships that I will never forget in only a short period of time. The most memorable day for me was when I was sick for a couple of days over the summer, so I hadn’t seen the kids for a while. My first day back I had about 5 children just screaming my name and running over to me to give me the biggest hug ever. For me that was yet another reason for me to work with kids for the rest of my life. The impact I had made on the kids had almost felt to me like I had won the lottery. Throughout my life, I have had parents, coaches, and teachers on my back about becoming the best person I can be. These people have led me to the conclusion that I want to become a teacher and get the opportunity to work with children. These experiences from the past will always be in my heart and will be some of the reasons why I want to be a teacher!