“Friends!” I shouted, taking my place at the front of the playroom. “Have a seat, friends! It’s time for a spelling test!” That was three-year-old me. After every day at school, I would either immediately begin playing “teacher” with my imaginary class or describe the events of the day in detail to my parents: visiting the science lab to make our own paper, going sledding out back, or reading a book with my favorite teacher, Mrs. Burt. Put simply? I was obsessed with school from day one. In fact, almost every aspect of my life revolved around school. On Christmas, my sister, Adelle, would get veterinarian supplies to play with, while I got ones for a schoolteacher. I collected fun stationery and even created my own pretend class — with a complete roster — throughout my childhood. Even as I got older, I was the kid that actually liked school. As my peers groaned at the thought of waking up, climbing onto the rattling yellow bus, and trekking across the building to get to class, I was excited to go to my favorite place in the whole world. Most students would prefer to go back to bed than sit through another math lesson, but not me. I loved it then, and I still enjoy being in the classroom now. While my friends are ready to leave school behind, I’m ready for it to be my future. Peer tutoring my classmates and helping my friends with homework is my jam. Watching others struggle — especially when I can’t help them — is painful, and it fuels my motivation to become a teacher. As an upperclassman at my high school, I had the opportunity to participate in a Teacher Academy program. An extremely beneficial part of this amazing program is the internship experience. Every quarter of the school year, I had the ability to go to another classroom in the district and intern with a mentor teacher, helping them around the classroom and working with students in a real world setting. As I got more classroom experience through my internship, I realized that being around the kids helps me remember and appreciate the little things in life. One day, one of my 5th graders ran up to me and asked, out of the blue, “Do you like sushi?” That simple question made me smile, and the chance to live for those moments every day is special. I want to be a teacher. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. While other kids dreamed of being baseball players, doctors, veterinarians, engineers, or construction workers, I wanted to be where I’d always been: in the classroom. And one day, I realized it was because I never wanted to leave. A number of people have asked me what my backup plan is if education doesn’t work out. “What are you going to do in college if you end up not liking teaching?” they asked. When my mom and dad asked me this question, I paused. I racked my brain, looked up, and stuck my tongue out like I did when I was just that little three-year-old all those years ago. Ever since I was that small girl, all I ever wanted to be was a teacher. How could I not be? The classroom is my life. Wanting to be something else had never crossed my mind. I had already decided on my future almost sixteen years ago when I started school in the first place. I told them: “Teaching is all I want to do.” And that’s where I’m headed: making my dreams come true.

I’ve wanted to be a teacher since preschool. Nothing else has ever crossed my mind. As a child, I’ve always had an obsession with school (and office supplies). It ran so deep that when my sister got vet supplies to play with, I got teaching supplies instead. I would play with my imaginary class, create pretend lesson plans, and collect fun pens and stationery. Even now, I enjoy coming to school each day while my friends grumble and groan as they trek to class. As a Teacher Academy student and a student intern in an elementary school classroom, I can see that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. This program has not only taken the place of a college-level introduction to education course, but it has also given me real-world experience in actual classrooms that has been really helpful in my decision to go into middle childhood education. The way my students wave and whisper “She’s here!” as I walk through the door makes me smile. Their youth makes me nostalgic for my own childhood and reminds me to find joy in the little things. One day when I was interning in a 5th grade math and science class, the students were given an owl pellet to dissect. There were shouts of excitement throughout the class: “There’s bones in here!” “That’s a skull!” “Ew! What is that?” It’s so easy to forget how to find joy in the little things, and the students in my internship help remind me of that every day. Why should I go somewhere else in life when I’m happy where I’m at: in a classroom with kids that make me smile and laugh? I get the opportunity to help them learn and understand instead of just sitting by and hoping someone else does the job for me. I hate seeing my friends struggle—and therefore my students, too. It fuels my desire to become a teacher and to help students grow into great people. So many people have asked me what I’ll do if teaching doesn’t work out. When I actually sat down and thought about it, though, nothing else came to mind. For my entire life, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Nothing else has interested me. I don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer or a psychologist or anything else. Teaching is my passion. My dream. And now, I’m one step closer to making it my future.

Once I turn my tassel and enter the next chapter in my life, I’m going right back to where I started: school. Ever since I was three years old, I’ve wanted to become a teacher. Unable to imagine myself anywhere other than my favorite place, I knew that it was my destiny when I grew up to go back to school as a teacher. My passion for becoming a teacher ran deep, embedding itself into every aspect of my life. I collected office supplies, created pretend lesson plans, played with school-themed toys, and even taught an imaginary class. As a tutor through my school’s peer tutoring program, I had the opportunity to work one-on-one with peers to help them learn, which has been a really rewarding experience. Watching my tutees finally understand a concept and get their grades up because of my help has been very fulfilling to me as a future educator. Another important program that I joined in high school was Teacher Academy. Taking the place of a college-level “introduction to education” course, the two-year program consisted of in-class instruction, creating a research portfolio of basic education concepts, and an internship period. This internship means that I was able to intern with a mentor teacher at any building in the school district to get real-world classroom experience. Before Teacher Academy, I wasn’t sure what grade levels I wanted to teach. Through shadowing in various classrooms during my senior year, I was able to learn that my heart is set on teaching middle childhood, and I realized even more how much I really want to become a teacher—and how well-suited for it I am. Working with the kids was my favorite part of my time in the program. They not only helped me embrace my “inner child,” but they also helped me appreciate the joy in small things. Achieving this dream of becoming a teacher is going to require some work. Once I graduate high school, I’ll be attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While at college, my plan is to not only earn my bachelor’s degree in Middle Childhood Education (Math and Science concentration), but to also get a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) endorsement and begin work on my master’s in Language and Literacy as an undergrad. Yet college is only one part of how I will achieve success as a teacher. When I finally have a classroom of my own, I want to make sure that I don’t lose sight of why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. Yes, I love school. But helping others learn lights me up. I love being around young people who make me laugh and bring joy to my day. I cherish the opportunity to be the best teacher I can be for my students. For me, this means advocating for my students, giving them the resources they need, and helping them have fun in a place that some kids dislike. I want to be the reason my students like school. I want to help them succeed and become better people. If I can be that teacher for my students, then I will be the most successful educator that I can ever hope to be.