Whenever I tell people that I am a pre-service teacher, I get a few standard replies.
‘Why would you want to go back to school?’
‘Oh you’ll get heaps of holidays!’
‘Ugh kids. I wouldn’t be able to handle them!’
I’ve only been studying Secondary Education for two years, but I am already sick of those replies, because they are just not true. Ok, maybe the holidays are pretty good, but teachers work so hard throughout the year, they deserve them!
The raw truth is, and I’m sure if you asked 100 teachers why they choose to do what they do, all of them would answer the exact same way, that teaching isn’t about the pay packet or the holidays or the benefits of any kind. Teachers teach because they want to make a difference in the lives of young people. The students we teach are the generation of tomorrow, the people who will write new laws and invent new technologies. I chose to become a teacher because of some of the amazing mentors I had throughout my senior schooling, and I figure that if I can have the same impact on just one of my students, I’ll have done my job well.
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