Why A Teacher?

As long as I can rememeber, I wanted to be a teacher. Well, except for that short period when I thought I might be a veterinarian, but the thought of putting an animal to sleep was just too traumatic for me. Plus all that math!! Blah!
Teaching was a natural choice for me. My mother was an amazing teacher, my father became a teacher after he retired from the military, and I had a string of crappy teachers who made me want, more than anything, to be a better teacher than they were. I also had some teachers who had a positive impact on me... Miss Eanice, Mrs. Edmunds, and Mr. Rocci to name a few. To them I will be forever grateful for their encouragement, advice, and dedication to their students and profession.
So really.. why teaching? The pay stinks, you spend a lot of time working after hours, weekends and even at home, you spend a LOT of money out of your own pocket to buy things to enrich your teaching and you get little respect from the government officials who decide your fate without ever having walked in your shoes. Then there is the biggest pressure of all... meeting the individual needs of twenty-five bright, energetic, eager, fragile, small individuals. As a kindergarten teacher, what I do today lays the foundation for what they will do in the future. No pressure there.
Teaching is joyful, heartbreaking, funny, random, frustrating, rewarding, challenging and I love ever minute of it! I love the look on a child's face when they "get it". I love their open, unfiltered view of the world. I love the challenge of meeting the needs of each child and watching them grow more excited with each new word they can read on their own. It's the hardest job in the world and the most rewarding.
Let's not forget the perks of teaching, too. Where else can you work and be guaranteed to get a hug or random, "I love you"? What office is decorated with unique artwork created by curious, talented, creative minds? Where can you work and get stories written and illustrated just for you by budding little artists and authors or gifts of melted chocolate from fuzzy little pockets and crushed backpacks? Jealous? You should be!
Why do I teach? Because I can.