Responding to the Call

Before I had ever taken an interest inventory or career assessment, I have always known I wanted to be a teacher. Writing instructions on the whiteboard and grading tests was my dream ever since I was allowed to be the teacher when my siblings and I played school. In some way, shape, or form, teaching, instruction, and guidance have been vocations I have felt called toward since I was a child.

My teachers have been my role models and have advocated for all my successes, encouraging me and providing me with the tools I needed to be successful. Early on, I was invited into roles of assisting my fellow students with schoolwork and I always felt a sense of accomplishment when they were able to understand something new. As I continued to offer help, my classmates repeatedly told me that I should become a teacher and I found myself agreeing with them.

I was lucky to know that I wanted to be on the education path at an early age, however, the subject I felt most drawn to changed many times. At various times I wanted to teach art, then english, then all subjects, and then back to english. Nevertheless, none of those content areas felt right. It wasn't until my freshman year of high school when I discovered the possibility of teaching theatre. After participating in a production in which my high school drama club partnered with a local semi-professional theatre, my experience with the directors and their constant encouragements, taking advantage of every opportunity to teach us something new about the theatre world, opened my eyes to the thought of doing the same. Later in high school, I was given the opportunity to coach freshmen on our speech team. This experience solidified even more for me, the desire to become a theatre educator. When giving feedback and coaching, it just felt natural. I could tell that I was making a difference and helping younger performers improve. Seeing these students excel in performance was so much more gratifying than any personal success of mine had ever been. I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do for the rest of my life.

In addition to feeling called to education by the theatre world, I felt a calling through my experiences as a camp counselor. For the last two summers, I have been able to serve elementary through high school aged children in teaching Bible studies and leading various activities. From this experience, I learned how to interpret pre-written lesson plans, address disciplinary issues, and improvise new methods of teaching. Not only did my skills develop, but I gained more confidence in my teaching in general.

As a participant in the arts and theatre, I feel that I bring a unique perspective and abilities to the table. I have gained the ability to juggle many responsibilities and tasks at once through my work as a stage manager. I also have found that I have an eye to catch what often goes unseen, whether that be a new take on a literature analysis or spotting when someone needs encouragement. I am naturally an optimist, seeing first the good in everybody and everything, wanting to point people toward the positive aspects of any situation. This furthermore lends itself to the role I often find myself in as a mediator and confidante. In my opinion (albeit biased), these attitudes and abilities will help me to be a more effective teacher who not only can run a classroom but can create community with her students.

In many ways, I feel that I was created to be a teacher. I seek to reach out to students through the joy and beauty of theatre.