My journey with teaching began by accident three years ago, when I began to work as an Assistant Director for a tutoring center. This job began as a means to pay for graduate school at the time, when I was earning my MFA in Creative Writing. At first, I stayed mainly in the clerical side of the job, but naturally began to gravitate more towards the teaching and began tutoring some classes myself. Within the first few months of my new job, I had also oriented myself with college counseling and began helping the seniors with their college applications! Many of our students went on to study at prestigious universities! 

The tutoring and mentoring was fulfilling, but only to an extent. The longer I worked there, the less I liked the center and the idea of private education. The families who that tutoring center served hailed from financially privileged backgrounds; they were the only ones who could afford the tuition with private tutors. I wanted to teach and help students who looked like me, thus began offering tutoring lessons, and college application help, to students in my community. Students who, like me, attended public schools, came from immigrant backgrounds, and who had the drive to pursue higher education! It was for this reason that I applied to earn my teaching credential and leave the private education sector. 

 

 

The world leads us all many different pathways. Some of us are placed in positive and enjoyable situations while other pathways may lead to negative long-term effects. No matter the situation in which we are placed, it is important to come out of the situations with having learned a lesson.

Our role models, while on our journey to teaching, are some of the greatest resources we will have. These people are the models for how we will or maybe will not shape our own classrooms one day. Role models tend to be the people that we lean on when we need assistance. Thy are the people that are always willing to help and offer a welcoming environment.

Since starting my journey to become a teacher, I have worked with many different types of people. Many of these people have created positive working environments not only for me but also for their students. Most recently, while in a second-grade classroom, as an aide, I got partnered up with an outstanding teacher. She has been teaching for over 25 years. I could tell that she is truly passionate about her job. She was there not for a paycheck but for her students. She was a fantastic role model and I know that I can reach out to her anytime I have questions.

On the other hand, we typically come across some bad apples or people who are the opposite of role models, while on our journey. We must learn how to grow from these negative experiences. These experiences will help us to shape who we are and what we want our classroom atmosphere to look like.

Though I have had some great mentors, there have been a few coworkers with which I have learned how not to act. These are usually the workers who are there just for a paycheck and not because they love doing their job. They are usually people I try to avoid unless I really need to ask them a question. Although these role models may not be the ones we lean on for assistance, as future teachers, we can just as easily learn from the bad apples and much as we can learn from the good apples.