Ms. Teacher...how did that happen?

So in my previous post, one of my followers asked a question that I've attempted to answer (most of).  This is from Jacquelineand... (her blog is here, if you want to check it out).

"So, questions, per your request on your last blog...what led you to teaching, what aspect(s) of teaching are you most passionate about and how does it tie in with your feminism, if it does."

Teaching.  When I was in grade school I went through a phase where I said I wanted to be a teacher.  I did no dilly-dallying with being an astronaut or doctor or what have you.  I thought teaching was the most awesome job in the world.  This may have been because I was privileged to have several very great grade school teachers who inspired me and all of my teachers were kind and helpful.  Though, I’m not really positive.  It just seemed like a fun job.

Then I hit high school.  Suddenly teaching just seemed like a ton of work with little benefit.  My teachers in high school were fine.  I had a few boring ones, maybe one or two that got on my nerves, but that’s all.  I think I finally started to realize just how time-consuming it was, and in high school you get more glimpses of the reality of being a teacher.

So, I was off to college, unsure what to do, but pretty sure it wouldn’t be teaching.  I laugh now in retrospect.  I did that first year of generals and found I had a propensity for learning language, especially grammar.  With relatively little effort, I understand the basics of the language and could memorize vocabulary very easily (though only short term memory…my long term memory is quite average, sadly).  I decided to go off to France to have an adventure.  I got into the intermediate class, did very little and got As (This is not unusual for me.  Science and Math are slightly more difficult, but the arts, piece of cake).  I suddenly came to the realization that I was good enough at it, that I could teach it, and to me, this was a lovely challenge.  I needed something to do with a French major, so I determined I’d make my undergrad as useful as possible.  I headed home and got a minor in biology and did a Masters in Teaching program to endorse both.

Teaching continues to be a challenge, not a challenge in the sense that its extremely difficult, but it’s not boring like many other jobs would be for me.  I have a voracious mind that loves to learn.  I read constantly and love new ideas.  Teaching, despite the disadvantages, is the perfect medium to enhance one’s own learning while helping others to learn.

There you go.  This is how I was led to become a teacher.  Many ask why I paired French and Biology and I always say “I’m good at both, why not?”, so in case you were wondering…

What I’m passionate the most about is not necessarily my subjects.  I’m VERY passionate about certain aspects of my subjects and I like the subjects I teach, but they are not my passion.  My passion is and always has been to help someone understand something they did not before and to help others expand their knowledge and their own thinking capabilities.  This can be done in any subject, so I just picked two that I liked.  Believe me, there a so many other subjects I could’ve picked instead that I would love to teach equally.  I love tackling the controversial topics within each of my subjects and to plant new ideas in my student’s heads.  I love it when they come up with a new approach to a problem that I didn’t think of.  I love seeing the wheels turning upstairs.  I love making them second-guess the things they had always been told were true.  :P  And, I’m passionate about high school age kids.  They are the cream of the crop, imo.  They are just starting to become adults.  They have so much passion and life, if only we could tap into it.  They love and hate so easily, which makes teaching the exact opposite of boring.  Their problems are so fascinating and I have this burning desire to help them make the transition to adulthood smoother.  They are so much easier to reason with and they get my weird jokes.  I LOVE teenagers!

I will have to leave the rest of the question to another post since this is getting quite long.  More to come!

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read: still Cold Fire.  I'm taking my time with this one.
taste: Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mints. I think they're gone now.
see: Sims 3, was playing this for a couple hours this evening.
hear: Sims 3 theme music.  It's pretty catchy. ;)
smell: Hmmm, not much?
touch: my warm fuzzy blanket wrapped around me. (We try to limit our electricity)
think: That my hubby and I have got it pretty good.  Much better than some that's for sure. 
feel:  content and a lil sleepy.
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