Better Late Than Never
As an adolescent and even a young adult, I didn’t know what I wanted to spend my life doing. I could not see into my future with a clear vision like many of my peers seemed to do with ease. In high school I was asked the typical questions, “What will your major be in college?” and “What do you want to be?”. Until my sophomore year of college, I was not able to answer those questions with the satisfaction and certainty for which I so desperately yearned. I spent my first several semesters of college completing courses that I did not want to take. My conscience was always whispering in my ear, saying, “This is not meant for you. This is not who you are”. With both excitement and apprehension, I finally listened. I experienced an epiphany that opened my eyes to the fact that I was meant to be a teacher.
Last year, I joined the Co-op program as an English tutor. It is in this program that I have gained most of my experience teaching and interacting with students. I remember times when I wasn’t sure if I was really making a difference and when I wasn’t quite sure of myself. One day, a particular student said something to me that I do not think I will ever forget. I’ll call her Jessica. She is a very energetic girl, and I was always telling her, “Jessica, stop talking. Jessica, turn around. Jessica, do this. Do that.” It seemed that nothing I said got through to her.
She wasn’t what you would call a “problem child” necessarily, but she seemed to do anything she could do to distract herself from the task at hand. Whispering to her friends, walking aimlessly about the room, and loudly posing off-the-topic questions seemed to be her favorite things to do. My time was frequently spent attempting to get her to focus and pay attention.
One day, she marched into class and sat down with excited eyes. It was the second semester she had been in a class with which I worked, so we were quite familiar with each other. I flashed her a smile in order to acknowledge her presence. She looked up at me, returned a smile and said, “Miss Leslie, I always smile every time I see you because you make me feel like I can do anything”. My heart warmed, and I knew at that moment why I want to be an educator.
Jessica eradicated any fear that I ever had that I was not good enough. She reminded me exactly why I want to teach. Now, I can not only answer the question “What do you want to be?’, but I can also answer the question, “Who do you want to be?”. I want to be an inspiration. I want to make a difference. I want to make children feel like they can be anything they want to be, and go anywhere they want to go. The sky is the limit.
