Belinda: What Brings Me to Teaching

The first picture I included is of a typical Chicago home. Even though the house I grew up in wasn't the best place for me, it showed me that a home isn't a just place where you live. 

Growing up, my home wasn't a stable or secure place. My childhood isn't a wonderful collection of memories for me. The only thing that was, was school. School, books, and math - my favorite subject - have been my escape from the stresses of my home life since I began pre-school. It still is. It was the safe place I could rely on to be routine, safe, and secure. Even when I was not at school, I would play “teacher” or constantly have my nose in a book to bring that security home with me. This lead me to the conclusion that has been staring me in the face all of my academic life: I should be a teacher.

I grew up on the southside of Chicago and have lived here my entire life. I spent the first nine years of my academic life with the same group of kids. In eighth grade, as we were applying to high schools, I thought I'd go to a high school in my neighborhood and continue seeing the same faces in my classes as I always had. My science teacher encouraged me to apply for schools outside of my neighborhood, told me it would be better for me. I ended up applying, getting accepted, and attending a high school an hour away from me on the northside. I was the only one of my graduating class to attend Lane Tech HS. So here I was, a freshman venturing outside of the only neighborhood I knew, going to a school an hour away, to a school bigger than most small colleges, on my own. I didn't know it then, but that would be one of the most impactful decisions of my life. It was there that I met a math teacher, and so many other teachers, who would inspire me to become a teacher myself. It was my algebra teacher who I idolized my freshman year who nurtured my love for math. It was my homeroom teacher who showed me what a compassionate teacher was like. It was my coach who showed up to never give up and who believed in me more than I believed in myself. These were the adults in my life who may not have realized it at the time, but they were paving the path to my career.

My senior year of high school, as I was applying to colleges knowing I wanted to be a teacher, I also applied to be a Golden Apple Scholar for a foundation that encourages and aides students that want to become teachers. A couple months later, I received a letter in the mail congratulating me on becoming a scholar and inviting me to an induction ceremony. The following summer after I graduated HS, I got an internship with the Golden Apple Foundation and I was surrounded by other scholars who were just as excited and passionate about teaching and education. That summer, I was put in a high school classroom for the first time. By the end of my first day in a classroom, I knew I had made the right decision and it ensured me that teaching was what I wanted to spend my life doing. Here I am, in my third year of college, more sure than ever that I'm going to become a high school math teacher.