My Purpose

One thing that really resonated with me from last class was the idea of purpose in the teaching field. I’m sure we’ve all felt a scorn or a laugh when we’ve told someone that we are in college to be teachers. Of course, not everyone feels that teaching isn’t a great profession. I’ve had many people say that teaching is an excellent field and that teachers are always needed. However some people, mainly my family, think that teaching isn’t the best way to go in term of a career. They are more concerned with my financial stability. They have good intentions; they want me to be well off. They’ve even said things like, well if you’re going to teach, you should teach math so you actually get a job.

That’s as close as a compromise I’m going to get though. They don’t share my philosophy that you have to do something that makes you happy. I could have the well-paying job in the world but if I don’t like the job or I feel like I’m not making a positive impact on society then I feel as though the work is meaningless.

I know how much some of my former teachers have impacted me, and that’s exactly what I would love to do for someone else. There’s a quote out there that goes along the lines of, “If you don’t work to make your dreams come true then you’re working to help make someone else’s come true.” I could never do that, be some sort of office zombie. But in a way, the quote is completely true to me. I will be making my dreams come true by guiding students along and teaching them in order to help them get to a place, whether that is college, military, or even just graduating high school, where they can begin to make their own dreams come true.