Destiny: What brings me to teaching?

What brings me to teaching? For most of my life, I was never a particularly smart or gifted student. I changed schools frequently growing up and struggled academically and socially. The only classes I ever excelled in were my history and government classes. I had always been passionate about people and doing good in my community, but it wasn't until my junior year that I truly understood how to do that. I realized that I could combine my love of social studies and my passion for people together with teaching. I am reminded of one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, shown below. I believe the world is made better by regular people trying to do good things. As a teacher, if I can help even one student who is struggling, if I can invest in just one, that would be enough. There are so many other things that bring me to teaching, my love of academia, my love for people, my admiration for a good education, and my belief that education is the key to a better life. However, I am not naive enough to believe that our education system is perfect. Part of what brings me to teaching is the brokenness of the system. It infuriates me that students of color are consistently and unfairly treated in the education system. It breaks my heart that there are students out there who won't have the same positive experience in their schools that I had in mine simply because of their zip code or skin color or household income. Lastly, what brings me to teaching is also what keeps me in teaching. Teaching is a hard, undervalued, underappreciated profession. Yet, I am lucky enough to know that in the future I will have fantastic students and I already have fantastic peers. As a Golden Apple Scholar, I have met so many fantastic future educators who have held me up when I felt like quitting and have inspired me to be the best educator I can be. Teaching is awesome! #BeGolden