To Be A Teacher

On the first day of my teacher career, I was almost fired for eating the sandwich of a high school boy. On the second day I was almost fired for mentioning the possibility of friendship with sheep. Otherwise, there was nothing remarkable about my thirty years in the high school classrooms of New York City. I often doubted I should be there at all. At the end I wondered how I lasted that long.

In the past week I have been bombarded with what it means to be a good guide/instructor/teacher/mentor/whatever you want to call it.

The above excerpt is from "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt, a memoir I've fallen in love with. It's candid, real, tragic, and hysterically funny (as life usually is).

In addition to the book my channel surfing skills have landed me on TNT and its "inspried by a true story" The Ron Clark Story.

Seriously, these two thngs have basically showed me that pushing myself to be a teacher is the right path. Yeah yeah yeah, it's just a book and it's just a movie, but it's the message behind the two. It's knowing that teaching is hard work that that yes, I will be overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. But I don't care, because reading about McCourt reaching through to students and seeing the story of Ron Clark move these students is amazing.


I love my future profession. Hell, I love the possibility of my future profession.