Growing up, I never had a set idea of what I wanted to do when I grew up. I’ve always thought to myself how could I possibly know what to do with my life at such a young age? I would have daily conversations with my mom (mainly throughout high school) about career options that I found intriguing, but nothing really rang a bell. However, once we brought up the idea of teaching younger children is when my instinct started to kick in. I believe that this is going to be a perfect career path for me, due to tremendous signs and people in my life that have hinted towards becoming a teacher one day. This has led me to attend school here at the University of Regina in the faculty of Education to pursue this dream of mine.
Let’s backtrack into my childhood… Being the youngest sibling, and cousin on both sides of my family has always made me look up to the older people in my life. With that being said I was never really exposed to kids younger than me. Of course, I have third and fourth cousins that may be younger; but I rarely ever see them. When I was a kid, I would beg to my mom how much I wanted a younger sister and how fun it would be to dress her up and take care of her. I learnt that begging doesn’t always have the outcome you have hoped for. Now you may be wondering, well how has this shaped you into a future teacher? Being able to look up to such incredible people throughout my life has made me realize that I want to be a role model that other kids can look up to, while doing a career that I thoroughly enjoy. Although I was the youngest of the Baier clan, I had multiple friends throughout my life. Having friends growing up also meant that many of them had siblings. Luckily for me, a few of them had younger siblings. Back then I never put two and two together on why I loved helping my friends take care of their younger siblings so much. However, I now realize that I absolutely love the imagination of young children and how fascinated they can get by the simplest things in life. Not only does this put my life into perspective, but kids teach you how sometimes the smallest things in life are the things we shouldn’t take for granted.
Moving forward, throughout my life I’ve had many job opportunities; some lasting longer than others. In grade eight I got my first every babysitting offer. I was completely stoked and said “you bet” in a heartbeat. The thrill of being able to take care of these kids was indescribable, and the best part was that I got paid to hangout with them. Although I faced many challenges I wasn’t expecting (such as peeing on the floor) taught me the ability to teach them in a friendly manner. This made them aware of their mistakes so they wouldn’t do it again. At this time, I was also a competitive dancer at Dance City and had been dancing since the age of five. My dance teacher gave me the opportunity to help assist the younger grades, and it was so enjoyable to walk into class seeing all of their smiling faces sharing the same passion as one another. As time went on, my mom thought it was time for me to apply for a job in the real world. This led me to applying at McDonalds in grade ten, and I ended up getting hired on the spot. I was ecstatic but absolutely overwhelmed at the fact that I was now working with real customers.
Working in the real world had many challenges considering not all customers are too friendly; especially at McDonalds. However, I got the privilege to become a GEL (Guest Experience Leader) and on Wednesday nights (pre-covid) was always family night. Being a GEL gave me the pleasure to do crafts with kids on family night. Meanwhile, on this one specific night I remember it clear as day. I was making crabs out of art supplies with a young boy and his sister. We all had so much fulfillment while making the crafts and getting to know one another. As we wrapped up our craft my life changed for the better. The little boy said to his grandma “Can she be my kindergarten teacher?” My heart instantly knew from that day on that this is what I’m meant to do. The sadness in his eyes as his grandma answered “no, she’s too young” was devastating. I knew if I could leave such an impact on a kid while working at a part time job at McDonalds, would be a whole lot better if I became a teacher and could leave an impact on hundreds.
Becoming a teacher will one hundred percent come with its challenges, but I’m ready to take on anything as long as I get to leave a positive impact on kids in the future generation. Dealing with people of all sorts of backgrounds and goals has truly made me get a full understanding of what I want and don’t want to do while being a teacher. Even though I’m still growing on a day-to-day basis, having kids be a part of my life will be a never-ending learning experience. I believe that everyone has a voice and will acknowledge all types of students. I believe that everyone deserves to have a role model to look up to in their life and it’s my goal to do that for students who need that extra love. I believe that I’m meant to become a teacher and I am beyond thrilled to just start my journey and to bring my positive outlook on life into my future classroom.