Dream careers can be hard decision for some, for me it did not seem hard, I had always wanted to be a nurse. I knew from an early age that I wanted to help others and enjoyed it very much. I was very determined to go to school, but something always seemed to block my path, getting married, having children, working all the time. I was server and bartender most of my life, then one day someone gave me a chance and it forever changed my life and my dream career. A preschool director gave me the opportunity to teach a preschool classroom.

This was the day my dreams changed forever. There is much to learn when becoming an Early Childhood educator. I know that even with a certificate in profiency and an AAS in ECE, I will still have so much to learn. When I first started college my plan was to just get my AAS in Early Childhood Education but as we all know things happen and things change.

One of those things for me is that we, my husband and children, will be moving to Tennessee in the next year and a half or so. When we move my degree will mean nothing to the state of Tennessee, I can not be a lead teacher of a preschool classroom that is ran with a public school. I can be in a daycare environment but not in a public school which is where I want to be.

So, I plan to continue and want to get my masters in Primary and Secondary Education when we move. I have always been a bright color and silly acting teacher, I have never been one to worry about what the other teachers think of me or what I’m doing in my classroom if my students are learning and having fun. I want a strong dependable teacher and school backing me. Having people around you that support you and help you grow as a person and teacher is something that means a great deal to me, I also want to be the one inspiring those teachers. A school who helps each other and work together make a wonderful team and the thing is, these are the teachers and facility that are more worried about what is important for the children, learning. That is the most important thing is that I can teach little minds and help them grow and develop into amazing adults. When I first told everyone I was going to school, most said so you want to be a nurse, apparently, I must look like a nurse, and I said no, a preschool teacher.

I was instantly asked why? I even had a lady I was observing for one of my classes even asked why and what she could do to change my mind. I was beyond shocked. When I asked her why she didn’t enjoy it and she said well the money sucks. I never in a million-years thought about the money part of being a teacher. I know teachers don’t make much money and they are held accountable for the children learning but money doesn’t make the world go around. Your dedication to the children does.

If I wanted to worry about money, I would run off be a nurse, doctor or attorney. To me, watching the childrens little faces when they write their name for the first time, they master that puzzle that seems so hard or read their first book is all the money in the world to me. I want to be with other teachers that understand that children taking test doesn’t mean one is smarter than the other or they are less important. That the child to the right may struggle with one thing but amazing in the other and that its ok to not be perfect as long as we are always doing our best and we never give up. I don’t want to be in a school system that is more concerned with being the best football playing team, the best cheer team. I want to be with that school that goes above and beyond for their student’s education and will help those children with hurdles that cross their paths and let them know you are there for them and will help whenever they are needed. We need more schools that are more concerned with teaching the students in the matter they learn and not sitting behind a desk reading from a text book.

Becoming a teacher has been an aspiring goal I set for myself since the day I walked through the doors of that preschool classroom. I was scared and anxious, but with those 18 children looking at me what all it took. For they didn’t care if I made a mistake, they just wanted me there. When I graduate in May of 2019, I am looking to being back in the classroom doing what I feel I do best, helping develop the minds of our young children and help them grow. We all remember our teachers and I want to be that one teacher that as a student gets ready to graduate, they can look back and say that teacher was the beginning of my school education. I want the students to come to me when they are grown and looking to place their own children in preschool. By the time I’m retiring from teaching, I want to leave a legacy and hope to inspire other children to become teachers and hope they understand the importance of Early childhood education.

Teachers bear a massive amount of responsibility of molding the most precious resource our nation has and that is our children. Becoming a teacher is a long path that you forget, from the lessons you teach to the lessons that they children teach you. Something that will always be worth second of my life. With out our teachers where would either one of us be? They are the foundation and the beginning of our learning experience.