Sitting there in my first-grade classroom, a fire was lit in me. I knew someday I wanted to be a teacher just like Miss Rose. I watched her teach with passion, positivity, and a caring heart. She was fun, and her laughter drew children to her. Miss Rose taught for many years and influenced many children, but sadly, she was taken from this world much too early after a battle with breast cancer. She may be gone from this world, but her legacy lives on in the lives of her students. I believe she would be proud to see me pursue a degree in education today, knowing she played a part in lighting that fire in me. At the age of 20, I became a teacher in one of the small Mennonite schools I had attended as an elementary student. As a Mennonite girl, attending college for a degree in elementary education was not an option. There were teaching seminars/classes, and I learned under a master teacher, but there was no college education. I only had an eighth-grade formal education, but I learned much by observing other teachers and working first under the tutelage of a veteran teacher. That veteran teacher's experience of almost twenty years in the classroom gave me valuable feedback on how to teach to capture my students' attention. Teaching was such a fulfilling job for me. No other job was as demanding or consuming as teaching, but neither was there one so fulfilling to me. I knew I had found my calling. Seeing a child's eyes light up when they finally understood a concept was a joy. Spending six hours a day with my students was a big responsibility and a gift I did not take lightly. We became like a little family in that classroom. Still, years later, when I see my former students, I feel a kinship with them, and I feel proud of them even though I am no longer involved in their lives or culture. Next to being a mom, being a teacher was the most fulfilling responsibility I have had. Now that I have left the conservative Mennonite culture I grew up in, I am working on a degree in elementary education to get back into the classroom. I would love to teach in a private school (or another small school setting because I love the multi-level classroom). Also, since I am a wife and mom now, I would like the flexibility of online teaching.