Teachers play an important role in the lives of our society’s youth. They are in a position where they impart knowledge that will serve their students later in life, and can be a supportive person too. That is why I was interested in teaching ever since 7th grade, especially in math. I liked math, but there would be times I would hit roadblocks or need a different explanation. Once I caught on to how helpful my teachers were, I developed a great appreciation for them. This was especially true in high school when I realized how supportive teachers could be with something as simple as just having a bad day. This and much more is why I want to become a high school math teacher.

Let me turn the clocks back to my last year of middle school. To end the year with a bang, our grade was assigned to present a project that could be whatever they wanted. For that project, I developed lesson plans that were designed to teach 7th graders order of operations. I was set on becoming a middle school math teacher and I wanted to show it.

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Despite this being my life goal, I doubted myself because I would go home every day to my dad saying that I was a fool to pursue something so insignificant. While I was working, I would sometimes hear his voice in the back of my head saying you are not good enough. However, this was overshadowed by the encouragement the teacher that was overseeing the project provided. She seemed to take special interest in what I was doing, and she helped motivate me to continue onward.  She motivated me to show that I did not have to create the next big this to make a positive difference it the world. Thanks to her encouragement, I created a final product that I am proud of even to this day.

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By my 9th grade year, I had already changed my mind about what I wanted to become. In 9th grade, I was introduced to algebra and fell in love with it. This was shown not by extensive participation in class, but rather helping my peers to understand the subject material. Walking my peers through problems and watching them figure it out brought me great joy. I felt like the teacher I aspired to become. While the discouragement from my dad was still there, my algebra teacher’s encouragement and now my peers’ encouragement overshadowed it. Seeing how appreciative of my help my peers were drove me to continue that much more.

While my teachers helped me greatly and showed me academic encouragement, they did much more that made me want to become a teacher myself. It was a how supportive and understanding my teachers were. Looking back, I realized how my past and current teachers genuinely care about their students. Once I started opening up to people about my life at home, I was surprised to see how people listened, were supportive, and sometimes even followed up with me later. This was especially true with my school counselor, and my 9th grade math teacher. They looked out for me, worried about how I was doing, and offered me advice on how best to handle situations.

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That is why I want to become a high school math teacher. I want to experience the joy of walking students through math problems and watching as the learn how to solve them. Not only that, but so that I can make a positive impact in the lives of students and provide with them with both academic and life skills that they will continue to use far into the future.