What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up
There are certain people in our lives who have the special ability to inspire us to do certain things. They give us the strength to hold on when things get tough and give us that push of motivation to do the things we aspire to do, but are afraid of. While growing from child to adolescent to young adult, I, like many others, was often faced with the dreadful question of “What do you want to be when you grow up and why?” I never had an absolute certainty of what I wanted my career to be growing up, so I always sat there with a futureless mind anytime I got asked the question. From the ages of fifteen till the present day now, there are a select few of people who really made me realize who I wanted to become, and what career I wanted to pursue. Some of these people impacted me in a pessimistic way, and others in a more favorable way and I want to share this life experience in what do you want to be when you grow up essay.
My freshman year of highschool I had the pleasure of having one of the most influential teachers, Mr. Daniels. He was one of those teachers who never failed to look after his students, in the classroom or out of it. Most teachers don’t take the time to have that special connection with their students, but he did. He always granted equal opportunities to each one of us. I admire him for the kindness, optimism, and positive mind set that he always held on his shoulders during each class. Something he always told his students before each class was, “what the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” This quote suddenly made me realize that the knowledge teachers share will always be shaped based off of who they are. After having such life changing experiences in his classroom, I became determined that one day I want to have the same impact on other younger individuals in the hopes of leaving the same positive influences bestowed upon me.
After discussing the teacher that gave me a more worthwhile outlook on becoming a teacher, let’s get onto the ones who were real eye openers. Last year I attended Hiwassee College as a freshman. I was super excited about taking anatomy, as I heard it goes into a lot more detail as to when I took it in highschool. After attending this class for a month, I was devastated by how it was going. Dr. Little had a powerful presence, and used it to reinforce negativity amongst us students. She would consistently publicly humiliate students for the material in which they haven’t learned better. For example, I did not understand the material for our first test so I asked questions repeatedly, and her response was, “you should know this by now.” Although she hurt me as a student, she also taught me a lot. Her actions made me realize that I don’t want to be that teacher that the students don’t have respect for, or that won’t help her students out when needed. My college foundations teacher was quite contrary to my anatomy teacher. In his eyes, he assumed that all his students would love him if he always cancelled class or barely gave any work. Each time we would have to turn in an assignment in person, he would simply look at us and proceed to say, “eh I see that you did it so you get a 100.” That soon made me realize that I don’t want to be that kind of teacher. What kind of teacher would I be if I was cutting my students short of the material they need to be learning.
Taking teaching courses is slowly putting an affect on me. It’s making me realize that step by step all my dreams about becoming a teacher are coming true. Learning the different material about different teaching styles and how to become an excellent teacher gets me overly excited! With me majoring in Early Childhood, I know that I will have to go out of my way to be more creative with my teaching techniques, because every child doesn’t learn the same way. With that being said, a huge characteristic that I possess to help me become a successful teacher is being patient. When I was at the age of attending Prek - 3rd grade, I struggled with learning to read certain things as quickly as others. When I become a teacher I want to make sure that I take the time to be patient with those who aren’t quick to learning as others may be. Also, I want my students to be able to look up to me as a role model. Growing a strong relationship with them, and letting them know how much they’re cared for inside of the classroom and out is one of greatest goals that I plan to accomplish.
Over the years I’ve been blessed to come across some remarkable people who have uplifted me to become the best that I can be. Looking back at my ten year old self, I never thought that becoming a teacher would be the career that I had permanently chosen. We were saddened by the news we had received about Mr. Daniels passing away my senior year of highschool. I want to be sure to carry on the legacy of him being an extraordinary teacher. Having that same positive impact on younger children, is something I look forward to every single day.
