Well, why do I want to teach?
That’s something I’ve asked myself many times in the last few years. After a lot of philosophizing, analyzing, and questioning, I’ve come up with one solve-all answer/question: Why would I do anything else?
Everything I love about life, humanity, and this crazy, interesting world we live in is involved in teaching: learning, changing, growing, overcoming, socializing, caring, and helping. Most people do a thing or two from that list a few times a week at their jobs. Teachers do all seven every day for multiple classes! And not only do they do all seven every day, their students do, too!
If those students are our future, then classrooms are one of society’s most important training grounds. Sure, parents play a role in socializing and teaching their kids, but they can’t replicate society-at-large like a school can, nor do they have the time to teach their children all the lessons we’ve learned as a people. That’s where history comes in.
So, you know I want to teach, but what do I want to teach? Obviously (I gave you the answer!), it’s history. American history, in particular.
History, contrary to what Winston Churchill said, isn’t “just one damn thing after another,” it’s LIFE. It’s everything we’ve ever done. Math has a history, science has a history, English has a history, foreign languages have histories, every single thing on this earth, in our galaxy, and in the universe has a history. I want to convey that to students. More importantly, I think I can convey that to students.
When I was in high school I had lots of teachers that couldn’t convey the day’s lunch menu, much less a lesson about the American Revolution or the Progressive Era. I also had some teachers who were great at conveying not only history lessons, but also life lessons (and lunch menus). They brought the two together in ways that allowed me to see that the past, the future, and life in general were all one in the same. As William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” I know that’s true and I’m going to convince my future students of the same thing. I think they’ll be better for it and I think our country and our world will be, too. Isn’t that why we created compulsory public schools in the first place? To create a better, more functional society, with enlightened and informed citizens?
That is what schools are for and I am proud to be (or to be on my way to being) a part of that mission. Why would I do anything else?
If you’d like to know about how to become a teacher in Georgia and make a difference in your state, contact our Admissions office at 888.MAT.1USC or email us at matadmit@usc.edu.
