Of all the fondest remembrance of any of my teachers throughout my school years one stands out that really influenced me. My fifth grade teacher Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith made going through the fifth grade a pleasure. I never forgot when he told our class that he is preparing us for the future and real world, which to us at the time was of course middle school. When he told us that I knew that this man cared, and that I should pay close attention to him. I studied his every move and watched as ran the classroom. he was stern yet kind all in one motion. He was always organized, he had great activities for us, and he was always willing to answer questions.
One day Mr. Smith had told the story of why he wanted to become a teacher. He started by saying that when he was younger he never gave his future much thought and he was not the greatest student academically I thought to myself “that kind of sounds like me”. He then went on to say that he went to college and saw so many things offered as far as careers and studies. He took his time looking over all the courses offered when he found himself continuously reading back over the education sections. He told us that he was not quite sure why the education degree was so interesting to him, until he remembered a teacher of his that made a difference in his life. Mr. Smith made the decision to pursue his teaching degree. He then told our class that as he progressed though college the challenges became more difficult and the work load was almost unbearable, but he never gave up. He then said no matter how hard it gets, if you want some thing to happen and work hard at getting it, the rewards will be greater than you can imagine. He finished telling the story by saying that he knew that he should always become a teacher, it just took remembering a great teacher to help him realize that was his calling.
I think Mr. Smith was right by telling my class back then that he was going to prepare us for the future. When I was choosing what to do with my college career and found myself stumped, all of a sudden Mr. Smith popped into my head. I then remembered Mr. Smiths’ story that he had told years ago and from that point on I have worked for my teaching degree and it has been everything he had described it to be, it truly is wonderful.
Thanks to Mr. Smith I have realized my calling and set many goals. Without a teacher like Mr. Smith to motivate students in direct or even subtle ways, I feel a real part of teaching is felt out. Thank you Mr. Smith.
-- Adam Havican, Florida Atlantic University