I was among the very scarce persons receiving their diplomas on my graduation day that did not what they desired in a career. I simply imagined eh I’ll make a choice over the summer months that’s enough time. Now I’m not talking about my High school graduation here instead I mean my college graduation ceremony. After graduation and at the initial stages of my under graduate education I was guaranteed persistently that I wouldn't have to pick a major until mid-way through my four years. As many other 18 year-olds would, I said to myself "well okay that’s cool I’ll simply be concerned about that as soon as the time comes". Two years of partying and cruising all through courses afterwards I all of a sudden had to make a decision on what I wanted to study and (in my younger, naïve thoughts at the time) base my life as well as the rest of my professional career off of. So rather then going off of my own personality and actually thinking into the long run about what I might like to do I merely picked the topic that had piqued my fascination the most all through my educational career: History. History no-brainer right? A lot of money in that racket.

I chugged along in my classes enjoying at some instances and at other instances cursing my decision. I took pleasure in the chance to converse historical viewpoints and issues with other folks in the historical academic community like myself. My educational prosperity was difficult but worthwhile. Nevertheless dozens of papers and sleepless nights afterwards I arrived at my final year and began anxiously thinking of my "next move" as it were soon after my graduation. Most of you might have the apparent answer in your thoughts "duh teacher". Yet for most of my life I in no way considered I had the personality to be a teacher. I imagined myself to be impatient, narrow-minded, and easily distracted. Naturally, as with most people at that age what I imagined and what was truth was very different. As I examined my own personal personality and temperament I learned with some chagrin that teaching was the best match for me. I say chagrin given that I had an entire plethora of apprehension pertaining to how complex the job itself would be. One such excuse was that it was a very difficult job with ungrateful and uninvolved kids. For several years I had railed about how the public schools had been failing the kids, then I changed my tune to say that it had been the children who didn't care enough about their foreseeable future. In my fatalistic despair, I began to communicate with to some colleagues of mine who are actually about to become teachers or who had been in truth already in the classroom.

The horror stories they started to describe strengthened my ideas concerning the career. Then I started to recognize at the end of some of their reports that they would all say "It's so enjoyable and definitely worth it" or they might tack on an inspirational tale of some student who tried so hard and motivated them. They also admitted to savoring the cheesy idea (I once believed) of school spiritwear, constantly sporting their school t-shirts and encouraging a lot of their students to buy class rings. I also started to recognize that the majority of many of their experiences had to do with hilarious and unbelievable gossip regarding the dealings of the majority of their associates inside of and outside of the schools. When I asked a close pal concerning this he told me "alot of the bad things happens outside of the work, the kids plus the job by itself is a fun time I don’t really even actually believe it work its pleasurable for me". Well that remark did it. Finally, following decades of denial and attempting vainly to include myself in delusional desires of joining the FBI or Central intelligence agency with a history degree to become a good, calm analyst in a cubicle I ultimately accepted and embraced my real calling. I enrolled in Graduate school for high school education right away and began out on my path to the classroom.

I guess that may perhaps be a happy ending to this story, the young teacher hearing his purpose and embracing some thing in life that finally offered him a target. Although, during my first semester I continue to hear from my associates and teachers whisperings of the difficulties confronting teachers currently. On the news I hear of complications in Wisconsin concerning unions, which includes those of educators, being stripped of specific negotiating rights. Right here in my home state of New York I hear of "rubber-rooms" and scandalous encounters between a specific duo of educators who were apparently simply treating a diabetes fit. I hear story upon story of stealing and older (or younger depending on tenure) educators who do very little inside the classroom considering that their job is guarded no matter what they do or fail to do. I hear of these new charter schools which have developed into the darlings of the educational community by delivering involved teaching and setting high criteria for themselves and their students (and almost free from the restrictions of state requirements that public schools must abide by) whilst through their new and fresh strategy, not intentionally (I believe), demonizing teacher unions as well as educators themselves that are now (in my mind) portrayed as greedy gremlins of some kind embezzling funds from the public purse whilst providing apparently substandard education and learning to the children of the state.

In the middle of all of this I find myself scratching my head and furrowing my brow. I imagined that educating was a noble as well as respectable cause? I believed in submitting myself completely to my pupils as well as their education and learning not just for them but in addition for the benefit of the USA. I think it's my responsibility to make America a better nation by educating the minds of its possible key holders. I wished to make teaching fun for my students and for myself. I can see a lot of of you educators rolling your eyes playfully. Yes I’m possibly burdened by that naïveté that we all come to feel as soon as we take the first step in to the classroom and smell that chalk (Smart board?). Yet I truly feel in my selected occupation and I look ahead with bright eyes to watching my students reach their High school graduation to the clowns the quiet ones the intelligent ones the struggling ones the ones who can do it but only have to have that little push the ones that are so considerably behind and I am determined to bring them up to speed plus the ones who will look at me and by no means say it because they're too cool for it but read it in their eyes "thank you". I look ahead to a humble salary, and also the close relationships I'll build with my colleagues and the satisfaction at the conclusion of the day. What Ever lies ahead with your, and soon to be my, career I hope that you may join a naïve grad student in re-pledging ourselves to this crazy and terrific existence we've selected for ourselves and for you sticklers please overlook all my grammatical faults goodness knows you’ve seen enough!