Holland Reflection

I had never wanted to be a teacher. Like the author, I expected to be in a different “country,” in my case the profession of medicine. I had completed my pre-medical studies and had completed the testing that would allow me to attend medical school. But I decided to take a break before committing to the rigors of becoming a doctor. I still had planned to attended medical school after a short break but I fell in love with teaching while volunteering at a school.

On a bad day when my lessons are going wrong, when my students are not listening, and when I am scrounging for change to buy tacos, I still look back at my choice of not going to medical school and becoming a teacher. I could have had the stature that comes with being a neurosurgeon. I could have gotten paid tens of thousands of dollars more. And I could have taken all those trips I wanted, but cannot afford now.

But then I realize that teaching has its own rewards. It might not be the money or the respect from people, but teaching does have its own rewards. I get the joys of seeing my students learn something that I have taught them. I have the opportunity to help them transform into responsible human beings. And in a way I get to relive my youth and laugh along with the antics of my kids.

 My life is different than what it could have been if I was a doctor. But I cannot say it would have been better. I am doing something I love and am in a profession in which I know I belong. Who knows? If I had become a doctor, I could have also hated it and would be doing something I did not like. To me teaching is like Holland. I never wanted to go there, but now that I am there, I could not imagine being any place else.