Almost everyday at lunch I feel like a rockstar. I walk into the cafeteria and within a few minutes I hear, “Hello, Jean-Teachah!” at least five or six times. More so since I started teaching the 3rd grade and an after school 1st grade and 2nd&3rd grade class, because it’s still cool to like your teacher when you’re 8 and under. I love it.
The other day I was telling my mom how when I first came to Korea I was thinking about becoming a teacher, and then after about a month or two I decided that after this year I would never teach again; it was so frustrating. I never slacked off and I always worked my hardest and I always did well, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed. I started to think about other career paths and other things that I could do, engrossing myself in other futures and plans. I had a list of graduate schools to apply to and the things I had to do to get there. I was starting to warm up to my job in Korea a lot more as this process was going on. I was toying with the idea of being a teacher when I got back, but that was only in the back of my mind and I had no intentions on actually doing it. Part of my aversion is that it is the cliche career for females, and I thought that if I followed that path it would be because it’s definitely one of the most encouraged paths for females and because of the security it offers.
In Taiwan I had a lot of alone time on the train inbetween the two cities I visited and it gave me time to reflect on everything and realize that the other plans I had were things that I actually wasn’t sure if I wanted to do. They were complicated and involved an extremely messy and tenuous path to get to a career that I wasn’t sure if I wanted. And then I realized that I really like teaching, that it really makes me happy. On top of that, it’s a career that is stable and accessible with great benefits. But that’s not what’s drawing me to it. I think that the perks of being a teacher, stability, accessibility, benefits, and summer vacation, should only be perks and shouldn’t be what draws someone to teaching. Unlike a lot of other jobs, when you’re teaching you’re in an extremely influential position influencing extremely impressionable people. And it’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of preparation, but for the presentation side of things you have to be positive, energetic yet calm, in control, able to react, etc. You have to love it to do it well for an extended period of time, and honestly, while you’re at work, doing it well (and caring that you know how to do it well) has to be your number one priority.
I didn’t want to be a teacher 3 months ago, despite the perks, but then after reflection I realized why fight it? I love doing it, I love my students, I love being responsible for their growth, and I love influencing them. The perks are awesome, but they’re just perks. Teaching grew on me and I love being Jean-Teachah.
