Teachers Are Heroes Part 2

**While trying to pack for our cross-country move (in 12 freaking days!) I uncovered things of days gone by. This is an essay I wrote in college for a teacher education class.

You can read the first part here.

However, the world is a complicated place and I got lost several times on the way to becoming a teacher. By the time I graduated high school I had become an accomplished writer (by high school standards at least!) and decided to major in journalism, partly because I thought that is what everyone expected me to do. I attended the highest rated journalism school in the country and nearly graduated before I came to my senses. I was miserable and knew that I could not spend the rest of my life in the cutthroat competitive world of advertising. I quit school, moved back to my hometown and tried to make sense of my life.

I decided that I would not return to school until I was absolotely certain what I wanted to do. I worked a variety of jobs and attended business classes at the local Vo-Tech, learning that I could never survive sitting in an office all day. I was growing restless and my parents were getting nervous. I was twenty-two years old and I did not know what I wanted to be when I grew up. A new child development center was opening and I thought I'd give it a try. After all, I loved children, had a lot of experience, and was ready for something new. I began as a teacher assistant in a four and five year old classroom. I was amazed-here I was having the time of my life, making a difference AND getting paid for it. I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher. But I had been out of school for a long time and was nervous about returning. I did not want to make another expensive mistake. I loved my job and decided that I could go to school whenever I wanted. I was promoted to co-lead teacher and after three months started working toward a Child development Associate (CDA).

I worked briefly as an assistant is a special education classroom. It was heartbreaking, rewarding, wonderful work but i wanted to focus on younger children. When I was offered a teacher assistant position at Head Start I could not believe my luck. This was the population I wanted to work with; these were the children that needed me most. Many had lived a lifetime in their four short years; experiencing pain, anguish, and abuse that I could only imagine. I eventually accepted a lead teacher position though the hours were long, the work was emotionally exhausting and the pay was below poverty level. It was worth it when a child who had been severely abused and abandoned by her parents, who crouched in horror at the sight of an adult, slipped her small had in mine.

Although I was doing what I loved most, the time had come for me to return to school. I was learning so much, but I needed to know more. I had the heart for teaching, but now I needed more knowledge. I resigned my position, took out student loans and started along the path to become a certified teacher. And when I walked across that stage to receive my diploma my childhood dream of becoming a teacher finally became my reality.