My name is Moises Velasquez. I am currently enrolled in the New York City of Technology. I am currently majoring in Liberal Arts and Sciences, this is only temporary. I am undecided at the moment, but I feel like I have an idea on what I would like to base my career on. I would like to become a teacher in the future. I am not sure what subject it will be yet but I just know I like to teach. Although I don’t look it, as I was growing up I was always that student the classmates would go to when they needed help on a problem. I always enjoy helping others in something I am good at so this field is something I am very interested in. Helping kids is something I want to do because I feel like a teacher has a very big impact on the future of some students. If I can impact at least one student’s life I would be content. I want to find those students that waste their potential on negative things and help them as much as possible. I also like to learn so pursuing this field will give me a lot of new learning experiences.
Pursuing this field will entitle me to have general knowledge in various things. According to the City Tech catalog is should be “based on a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences that forms the basis for our shared values understanding and responsibilities in a democracy”. The steps I am taking right now is already connects to this.Other steps I will have to take is having the ability to use modern day technology to use in a learning system. I will also have to be able to make a learning plan based on the abilities on to students. The major thing I want to do in city tech is get all the general classes out of the way. If I have to end up transferring then so be it but I would like to have all those general stuff out of the way at least.
“Don’t ever say you can’t do something until you trying, and if you fail, try try again”. This simple quote has followed me since I was a kid. My fifth grade teacher, Mr Smith, repeated this quote several times during my fifth grade year. I have no doubt in my mind that he has forgotten who I even am but if I could wish for something it would be for him to know he has unconsciously affected someone’s life in a positive way. The main reason I would like to be a teacher is because of this. Most people can remember at least one teacher from their schools years that have affected their lives or at least experience in school on some way. Sometimes is can be a negative effect or it can be a very positive one like I have experienced. I hope to provide the latter if I do become a teacher in the future.
No matter what kind of subject I want to teach as a teacher I would still have to be well educated in every kind of field. According to the city tech catalog I should have a general knowledge of every subject such as math, science, and history. One of the reasons I also want to become a teacher is so I can learn more about every field. Having considerable knowledge in various fields will also help me as a person feel better about myself. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to be kept out of the loop so whenever someone is having an educated conversation I would rather give my input than staying quiet. I am also very prideful so knowing things other people don’t gives me a sense of power over them even if it is just for a second. I promise I am not actually a jerk.
“ Seeing students develop new skills and gain an appreciation for knowledge and learning can be very rewarding. However, teaching may be stressful.Occasionally, teachers must cope with unmotivated or disrespectful students”. As said by the occupational handbook being a teacher can be both rewarding and irksome. I can personally agree with the latter. I have seen at least two teachers in my lifetime that have honestly cried because of their students. It is an undisputable fact that there are horrible students out there that make a teacher’s life a living hell. Nothing can really be done with these kind of students. Unlike these kind of students there are students are just as disrespectful but have the potential to be something much better. I’d say I personally can somewhat fall in this category. Although I never actually outright disrespected my teachers, I never really listened to what teachers had to say. I didn’t respect their wisdom and experience. This was mainly in my early years of high school. Junior year I was finally able to pick up my act, but I would be lying if I said I did this alone.
My english teacher throughout my last two years of highschool gave me the words I needed to hear at the time. She told me I had the potential to be something much more. I reluctantly took her advice to take school more seriously and by the end of highschool I had risen my GPA from a 78 to about a 90 average. I made it into the honor roll and the national honor society by graduation. Fewer than ten of my classmates were in the national honor society. It gave me great pleasure to see people surprised that I was a member. This personal experience is another reason I want to become a teacher. I hate seeing kids with so much potential fail to become something much better than they are just because they don’t have someone to push them. I know there are student out there like me who just need someone to believe in them in order for them to become successful. I want to become that teacher, that role model that students can think back and thank for the person they didn’t become.
Since City Tech does not provide the kind of education major I am looking for I will have to eventually transfer to another school. According to the city tech catalog the only major they provide in education is in career and technology teacher education. Since this occupation is similar to the occupation I am looking into I can take more classes they are offering. The classes they offer for this major coincide with whatever teacher I will want to become in the future. Taking these general classes and passing them with high grades will allow my transfer to another school to run smoothly.
If someone else in city tech is looking to become a teacher as am I then my best advice would be to get those general classes out of the way first. Once you have down transfer to another school that provides more opportunities in the teaching field. Go back to any teachers that have helped you in the past and ask them for advice. That is something I am looking forward to doing when I have more time once this semester ends. Teachers have a huge impact on how some students will turn out in life, especially those students who need that extra attention they can’t get somewhere else. I am excited to embark on the journey I am about to take to become the helping hand of some future person out there.
WORK CITED
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Middle School Teachers,
on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/o5oh/education-training-and-library/middle-school-teachers.htm (visited May 9, 2015).
New York City College of Technology (City Tech). “Career and Technology Teacher Education.”New York City College of Technology College Catalog 2014-2015. Web. 29 March 2015.
