When I sat down to do this assignment, I thought that I"d have it done in no time. Off hand I figured that answering the question of why I want to become a teacher would be a simple task. As I sat at the computer and thought about it, I realized that it was extremely hard for me to explain my reasons behind this choice. After sitting awhile, I finally was able to narrow it down to three main reasons. I want to become a teacher because I love children, the feeling of helping a student to grasp new things, and my final reason, knowing that I can make a difference in a child's life.
Throughout most of my high school career, I was determined to become an occupational therapist. I was an average student who was involved in an extracurricular activity called P.U.S.H. (Prevention Using Student Help) for all four years of high school. P.U.S.H. is an organization founded to prevent drug use at its starting ages. The program involved high school students speaking with fourth grade students about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Through my involvement in the program, I realized that teaching would be the right thing for me. I worked with students first hand and realized how much I loved to be around children. In my senior year, we visited Grissom Elementary, and on our last day there the children wrote us letters, placed banners up in the classroom, and told me how much they wanted me to come back and continue teaching them. These children convinced me that teaching was what I wanted to do. .
Becoming a teacher would enable me to see how a child reacts to finally understanding a new concept and the self-esteem that it gives them. I have a cousin in high school that I constantly help with homework when he needs it. When I explain something to him and watch him grasp the concept of what I"m trying to teach him it is amazing and fulfilling. Teaching is about helping students to learn, but I think the most marvelous feeling in a teacher's career is when a student stops asking for help and the can finally understand it on their own.