I always thought about being a teacher, but it was never the first on my list of careers.
I didn't think I was fit to be a teacher... or at least the idea of what I thought a teacher was supposed to be.
I have always been a student. I know how it feels like to not want to do my homework. I complained about taking tests. I procrastinated on studying. I had days where I needed to skip class for a break.
I wasn't valedictorian of my class. I failed a test before. I withdrew from a college class. I missed assignments. I forgot to do a reading.
I raised my hand and had the wrong answer.
I thought being a teacher means I have to be perfect and know everything. How can you be a teacher if you aren't knowledgeable in everything? But I started to realize that I had it all wrong. I, like many other students, placed teachers on a high pedestal of authority and intimidation. Especially STEM teachers. I couldn't tell them my interpretation of the text like I could in literature; I had to have the right answer. If I didn't, I wasn't smart enough for that subject.
But that was only sometimes. I didn't always hate school. I had patient teachers in my STEM classes who would tell me to "backtrack and reread a section" or re-explain a topic in different ways. And the part that I loved the most was understanding when everything clicked. I loved the feeling of finding the right equations, correctly identifying different muscles on a body, understanding the different systems in your body, etc... It was like a puzzle or a game to me because of how everything is connected. Once you know one area, you can move on to the next. I want to be that teacher that gets rid of the STEM teacher stereotype or reputation. I want to help students find a passion or something they're interested in, in science. Science is so broad: it could be the human body, marine animals, flowers and hybrids.