Earlier this month, we asked teachers at EC what brought them to the profession of teaching. Below is a fantastic response from our own Gabi S.
“Ms. Rose was shaped like an apple. She had glasses on a beaded chain, and she herded her flock of six-year olds through the water cycle, basic math, and reading skills. At five foot one she towered over us, and I worshiped her.
I entered first grade acquanited with Dr. Seuss, and I knew that I loved language and reading. By the end of first grade I had moved on to Nancy Drew, and decided that instead of being a paleontologist, I would be a first grade teacher. I wanted to teach people how to read, and see how their world expanded
I rediscovered dinosaurs and moved on from this teaching nonsense, but after college I followed some friends abroad. Faced with low-level programmers and higher-level future business executives I realized that twenty years or so hadn’t changed me very much. I still loved language, and I still loved sharing that with others.
Teaching ESL in the US is different, since my students were and are frequently older and better-educated than I am. I am a teacher now because there is nothing better than spending time with interesting, intelligent people, and giving them tools to teach you. Being a teacher puts me in a place to learn every single day, and though Ms. Rose will never know, I owe a great deal of that to her.”