Yes, I am positive I want to be a teacher.

This is me on my first day of student teaching last semester. Teaching makes my heart happy.

Since I was about 7 years old my dream was to open up my own bakery. Then, I started to sell some of my cakes when I was about 15. This quickly changed my mind about being a professional baker-- it was exhausting and took all the fun out of baking for me. I became so overwhelmed with how my cakes and cupcakes looked that I would spend hours trying to make them look perfect. I then came to the realization that, for me, baking was better off staying a hobby rather than a career.

Nursing was my next job option I pursued. In highschool I took a couple years of healthcare classes. I did very well in them, but I was not passionate about nursing. I think I liked the fact that it was a job that seemed to impress people. I remember telling friends and family members that I was planning to be a nurse, and always getting a response that made feel good about myself. But something seemed to be missing. I eventually realized the amount of information that you needed to know in order to pursue a career in the healthcare field, and I honestly just did not want to learn it. I was not passionate about nursing, so I definitely did not want to spend the rest of my life at a job I was not passionate about.

But... "what am I going to be when I grow up??"

I had no idea what I wanted to do. My entire senior year of high school I would often get asked what my major was, but I had no clue. I would just shrug my shoulders and hope that someday my future job would magically come to me.

I am definitely a planner, so the entire year of not having any idea of what I was going to major in scared the heck out of me. I prayed for the Lord to help me choose a job that He wanted me to do. I told him I was confused and lost, but I just wanted to know what my future job would be. During this year of my life, I began babysitting three days a week for my boyfriend's, at the time (fiancé now 😉), younger cousins. I had always loved being around younger children and it always seemed natural for me, but spending so much time with these kids really helped open my eyes to what I was passionate about. I remember waking up one morning and I just felt the Lord telling me He wanted me to be a teacher. It was in that moment I felt peace and happiness. I was like "Thank you, but why haven't I thought of this before?". I immediately told my mom that I was going to be a teacher, and she was so encouraging and told me that "I had found my calling".

The sad thing is that every response I get is not always as encouraging. Unless it is people who actually know how passionate I am about teaching, 9/10 I get a negative response.

Are you sure you want to be a teacher?

You really might want to rethink that.

It is not easy work. Do you know how tired you are going to be every day? Your day won't just end whenever the students leave.

If I were you, I would rethink being a teacher. There are so many other things you could do in life.

If you are in school to become an educator, you know that these are just a few of the responses you get when you tell people you want to be a teacher. I went through a season of life about a year ago when I really let these negative remarks get to me. I began panicking and starting to believe what others would try to convince me about teaching. I actually began looking into other majors and really considered changing mine. The overarching cause of this was trying to impress people around me, not my own happiness. As I was looking into changing my major, I had people that were really close to me remind me that teaching children is what the Lord has called me to do. They reminded me to not let people's opinions of my future career get in the way of doing it. As I sought out the Lord's guidance for my life, I was quickly reassured that there is not a better job out there for me than teaching.

So for those of you that are education majors, do not let the negative remarks get to you. The world needs educators that are passionate about teaching children and shaping the minds of our future. There are always going to be people in your life (and those that are strangers) that will comment on your life. Do not give up and keep pursing whatever makes your heart happy.

If someone tells you they are an education major, do not bombard them with comments and questions that they have more than likely heard a million times. But, please, tell them that you are proud of them and encourage them to keep on pursuing their dreams. I can promise you one thing. If your child ever has a teacher that is as passionate about teaching as I am (and as so many of my peers are), you are going to be forever thankful that they did not give up on teaching when almost everyone in their life wanted them to.

To those of you that always seem to have something hurtful to say about my future career:

Yes, I know that it is not going to be easy.

Yes, I know that I am not going to make tons of money.

Yes, I know I am not only dealing with children, but their parents, too.

Yes, I have considered many other options.

But most importantly...

Yes, I am POSITIVE I want to be a teacher.

xoxo,

Madison