Teacher Essay: Why Take Up Education

        

     

Throwback: College days during our Organic Chemistry class...

         I ask myself many times why did I take education as a course. Is it my choice? my parents' choice? or no choice? Let me just take the second question out and leave the rest of the two questions with a tie. I took education perhaps it was my choice and at the same time, no choice. Why my choice? It is because I love to share what I know (and perhaps the reason why I made this blog myself). I find my knowledge useless if not shared to others. According to Dalai Lama, "Share your knowledge. This is a way to achieve immortality." And what job would best fit this "calling" of mine is of course to pursue education, to become a teacher myself. Now, on the second question, why no choice? Because if given the chance, I would also love to enroll in a different course.  I want to enroll in fine arts, architecture, music, law, computer engineering and the list doesn't stop, but because of financial constraints, I can't. Most of you might agree but I think education course is one of the cheapest courses a student can enroll in college. This is also one of the most common courses being offered with scholarships.

       Furthermore, I chose education course because it is also practical. When one enrolls in education, you become a jack-of-all-trade. After graduation, aside becoming a teacher, you can be a trainer, a human resource officer, a customer service representative, an office staff, a receptionist, tutor and many other job opportunities. Perhaps this is because that part of being a teacher is to become gregarious, to become more social and to deal with various kinds of people, not to mention being trained with various kinds of situations. Remember that when one becomes a teacher, you will deal with many students, each with his/her own uniqueness, the parents with various personalities plus the superiors and administrators and stakeholders. Every day in the classroom or in school is like a microcosm of everyday challenges in the society.

wahahaha......

      One important point I also considered was the fact that the world never runs out of school. Schooling or education is almost a necessity in all parts of the world. A teacher can find a school to teach given his/her competencies and credentials. In the corporate world, businesses or establishments may close and are most of the time, age-bias. In education, private schools may close but never public schools. Age is never an issue. The older a person is, the more respect and dignity is given to him/her as a teacher.

       To be honest, it is actually ironic that I became a teacher when in fact most of my heartaches and sad experiences happened in school and were caused by some of my teachers in the past. However, no matter how painful these experiences were, these made me realize that there really are good and bad teachers. And I will always remind myself that I will never be a bad one. I may be imperfect but I always try to reflect on my words and my actions toward my students. And through this blog, perhaps I could share my reflections and practices in teaching that would be helpful to all the readers interested in this blog. I hope you can find this blog useful to you, teachers and soon-to-be teachers.

         Finally, for new and old teachers alike, let us learn to love this profession no matter what. Becoming a teacher is not a desperate move in the first place. Whether it is your choice, your parents' choice or no choice, one thing is for sure: you will love teaching. You will later realize how fulfilling it is as a profession. Love teaching and teaching will love you more.