I used to laugh at my teachers in previous years. When I went to public school I would actually laugh at them. I thought it was so funny how they couldn’t get our classes attention. It was almost like they showed for work because they had to, just to get paid. You could tell that they didn’t want to be there as much as the students didn’t want to. Students would miss class or not pay attention in class and it wouldn’t matter. I know what that can do to a student first hand. I found myself not going to class or not paying attention because I knew that the teacher really didn’t mind. After I came to Lutheran, with a rather large chip on my shoulder, I entered a new world of teaching. I actually find myself talking to my teachers about my personal life. I never new that teachers could actually care about their students.
Once I came to realize that there were teachers out there that did make differences in their students’ lives, I then decided that teaching was my calling. I now wish to major in secondary teaching and become a teacher myself. I want to learn how to help students now that people do care. Besides the academic knowledge they will get from me, I want to teach them about the principals of life. I want my students to know that they can always come to me with questions or just to talk. Also when I see students heading down the wrong path, because of first-hand knowledge, I can help them first realize what they are doing wrong. From there I can help them correct there mistakes.
Personally I like the small school setting. Smaller classes so teacher can really get to know their students. A school like that would be my preference to work in, but public school wouldn’t be a big deal. I just want to be in a position were I can impact people’s lives in a positive way. Me being a student , I know that we, the students, are listening. It just depends on what the teacher says. I can remember two examples were this took place. I had a little slip up my junior year. Even though I had gotten caught for what I did people wanted to help me. That’s not to say that they weren’t disappointed. They were disappointed because they believed that I was better than that. Every teacher I had wanted to help me in some way. It was that impact that made me never want to mess up again. The second also came from Lutheran High School and it also involves me. I going through some hard times and I was quite depressed. A teacher, not even one of mine, noticed this and confronted me. We ended up talking for a while and sorting through most of my problems.
These are the types of things that I want to do. I want to have students look up to me not only as their teacher but also as a person that they can come and talk to. I want to help people realize that they can and do make a difference in their environment.
