Career Changes

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Career Changes
By Julianne

Teaching is not a profession for the faint of heart. A good teacher must have plenty of backbone just to make it through a normal day. I started teaching at a very young age. I wanted to change the world. I wanted every
child and every situation to be perfect. Of course nothing was perfect and I soon felt frustrated and angry, like Jacko and other burned out teachers. You know, it wasn't the profession that was the problem. It was me. I wasn't old enough, wise enough or strong enough to handle teaching. I left teaching for a while and worked in other jobs. Slowly I worked my way back to teaching

and, what do you know, I love it now. Did teaching change? No. I changed. I had grown stronger, more sure of myself, less idealistic and more practical.

It took going outside of the profession to realize the good things about teaching. Teachers know they are underpaid. But we are wise enough to understand the economics of public education. So we continue to press for better pay, better working conditions. We know not all parents value us. So we continue to educate children AND their parents about the importance of education. We continue to develop teaching skills which COMMAND the respect of our students. Now that's what I call REAL backbone. Too bad Jacko didn't stay around long enough to develop it.