Final VTFT I Essay

Why do you want to be a teacher?

Running around on the playground, learning how to spell, climbing across the monkey
bars, learning multiplication, navigating the world of elementary drama – this was my life as a
small child, but even then I knew I wanted to be a teacher. It was a primary desire that I knew in
the depths of my subconscious that I would eventually abandon, and for a time I did. I thought
about advertising or a museum curator, but I came to love what I did in school, learning and
working with others and realizing the importance of my work, and I realized that I don’t want to
give that up, but instead step onto the other side of the curtain. Throughout my high school
career, I have been asked by other students for help on problems they had, and I realized that I
loved teaching them the process of learning, not telling or giving answers, but setting them on
the path to realize the answer themselves. There’s a job description for exactly this, something I
can make a career out of and something I can make a difference with – teaching.
Today I explained to my friend the usefulness, the helpfulness, the vitality that the unit
circle, one of my favorite mathematical resources, holds. Math is by far one of my least favorite
and it is the one that I most struggle with, but one in my mathematical career, I understood. I
understood something useful – a topic understood enough in order to use that to enlighten others.
I understood enough to teach. It is my passion to help others find their own way, just as I have
found mind, and in doing so I can help others accomplish something that I hold so close to my
heart. It excites me that I can teach the future generations of America how to think, how to make
decisions, and how to thrive using a bank of knowledge. I want to learn what it feels like to
introduce others to the world of human knowledge and what it feels like to be a role model to a
generation that owns the future.
Through VTFT this year, I’ve seen the hardships of teaching as well as the difference one
can make through being a teacher. It’s a job where you teach more than just your subject. VTFT
has made me want to be a teacher in that I want to teach the diverse and creative lesson plans that
I saw in my field experience. High School history appeals to me because I have such a respect
for AP history teachers who teach content that is so repetitive in today’s history.
I want to be a teacher because it was the profession that I drew in crayon on a fresh piece
of construction paper in arts and crafts time in elementary school. I want to be a teacher because
I have a passion for helping others on the road to success. I want to be a teacher because I want
to strive to help others thrive in an increasingly competitive society. I want to be a teacher
because I want to make a difference.