Starting a new career can be exciting and overwhelming. Starting a new career during a pandemic brings a different set of challenges, some of which that has no answer to. As a first-year teacher, I was excited for August 2020 to get here. I looked forward to meeting the kids and sharing knowledge with them. Two months later, I have most of their voices memorized. Teaching in the 2020 requires more creativity, compassion, and commitment than this career field has ever required before.
I aspired to become a teacher so that I could inspire young children to embrace all areas of STEM. Children often shy away from STEM areas because they feel like it is too hard. My focus is to help them see that they can do anything they put their minds to. Often times children will hear another person say a task or a subject area is too hard. Then, they will believe those thoughts and not even try due to fear of failure. It is my goal to teach children that nothing is impossible.
Working with children daily can help you learn more about yourself. You must be adaptable when working with children. Teachers should have a plan, a backup plan, and an emergency plan. You never know when technology issues will prevent you from teaching students in remote settings. Your video call could get hacked by someone looking to cause a disturbance. You also have to be adaptable with the students by giving them more grace than usual. Every student doesn’t have the ability to set time aside to do schoolwork while at home. Many students have other responsibilities at home – including caring for younger siblings. Some students have to share technology devices with siblings, which means they take turns attending their respective classes. Each student has different circumstances at home, which requires the teacher to maintain constant communication with the student and their family.
Educating today’s youth has its challenges and rewards. But every individual who answers the call to become an educator will be rewarded in seeing their students move further in life because of the time they’ve invested in that student. As a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated, I feel more connected with the roots of our organization.
Our illustrious founders saw that our youth need the guidance and wisdom from teachers in and out of the classroom. This need ignited my motivation to become a teacher. The students of today will transform into leaders of tomorrow, so it is my job to help shape young minds and prepare them for the future ahead of them.