Why I decided to become a teacher

Teachers have influenced my life in all kinds and ways. Some of them have guided me and even walked beside me in order to help me to learn new things. When I was a child I did not know that teaching was a profession —to be honest, not even knew what teaching was, may be because at that age, I was never considering in becoming a teacher. At the age of 7 I was thinking on becoming a firefighter or a policeman, I was aiming to be the one who could save the day, whether it be chasing bad guys or saving houses and forests from fires. Just one thought crossed my mind in those days: I wanted to be the hero.

Later, I learned about that kind of heroes, and all the difficulties they have to face in daily life, and I stopped planning to be a policeman or a firefighter and facing the same problems as they did. That was not too bad; I had parents that cheered me up in moments like those, and they used to inspire me to look for another aspiration. Thoughts went and came around my head without noticing how fast the time was running until I become 10. At that age, I had a wonderful teacher who always tried to help me learning with the most common teaching material at that time: a wooden rule, which aid me to learn the multiplication tables, the geography of Honduras and Spanish’s grammar rules. Her methods were not appropriate or fully acceptable but, in a way, I learned.

            Some years later I become a youngster. My first day in high school was fine, I started to make some friends and to learn new things, but there was a problem: I wanted to get more knowledge. Guided by the advice received from my grandfather, I begun to read books, and I agreed because I knew he have kept a lot of books in an old chest. I started my journey. I began to read scientific books, sci-fi books, and also religious books. The more I read, the more avid I was in reading. Now, I know that grandpa wanted me to be a wise person, he taught me that reading is the key to knowledge. Grandparents, parents and even friends are the empirical teachers of life; teachers, by the way, can be the empirical parents and friends of their students.

            Actually, I am not as avid as I was when I was younger, I loss this habit because of many things that obstructed my attention. Most of them were just time-wasters; hobbies which do not even caused a positive influence on me. But, beside those distractions, there also were guides that lead me through the way: my high school teachers, men and women who were always willing to answer awkward questions and to help students in their search of knowledge.

            Do you remember that kind of heroes that saved people from troubles and misfortune? Well, I knew a heroine who saved me from the Spanish’s grammar villains, the one that inspired me to write stories; also, a hero that fought beside me to defeat the most voracious math problems, whom always explained me how mathematics works; another heroine rescued me from disaster by singing and playing several musical instruments; and last, but not least, a hero who aid me to understand physics and chemistry in daily life. And yet there are many heroes—because that is what they are—that changed my perspective of learning, and that inspired me to be a teacher. I know I have lot to improve, and there are many mistakes I cannot change right now, but meanwhile, I will try to —imperfectly— be the best teacher I can.

            There is a phrase that changed my way of seeing teaching: TEACH PEOPLE, NOT LESSONS. I know it seems like a simple phrase, but it is deeper than it seems. Now, I am decided to rescue, save and fight beside my students so they can achieve their goals and evade desperation meanwhile they learn a few things. I will teach simple things like the importance of politeness, what service is and why integrity is so important. I have many fears about being a teacher, but I now that if I am enough prepared for it, things will just work while teaching people, and then, finally become what in the beginning I wanted to be: a hero.