Why I Became a Teacher

 

Why I Became a Teacher

At the beginning of every school year, before we open textbooks or talk about rules, we begin with one question:

Who do you want to be this year?

Each student chooses a single word, statement, or phrase to guide them through the year ahead. Some choose bravery. Others choose try again. Some choose longer phrases—I am more than my mistakes, or I don’t give up when things are hard. There is no wrong answer. What matters is that the choice is theirs.

Once the word is chosen, we share it—not just with each other, but with our families. I ask students to tell the people at home what their word is and how they want support in living into it. We talk openly about what that support might look like: encouragement, reminders, patience, celebration. This is not a goal we abandon after the first week. We commit to it together, and we return to it all year long.

The word becomes part of our classroom language. We reference it during hard moments. We celebrate it when growth shows up quietly. When students feel stuck, we ask, How does your word guide you here? The goal is not perfection—it is persistence. And the responsibility is shared.

This practice matters to me because I know what it is like to move through a year without anyone asking who you are becoming.

I have always been someone who asks why.

Why people behave the way they do.
Why do certain experiences leave marks that never fully fade?
Why do some spaces feel safe enough to breathe in, while others tighten around your chest the moment you enter?

These questions did not come from abstract curiosity. They came from survival.

My childhood was shaped by instability and trauma, and long before I had language for it, I learned to observe the world closely. In the absence of consistent guidance or emotional safety, I watched patterns—how adults reacted, how power moved, how silence could protect or punish. I learned that beneath our differences, most people are driven by the same fundamental needs: to be seen, to be safe, and to belong.

Much of my childhood play happened alone. My parents were largely uninvolved, and I spent long stretches of time creating structure where none existed. I turned my bedroom into a classroom—complete with a whiteboard, lesson plans, and an imagined group of students sitting quietly in front of me. Teaching gave me order. Predictability. A sense of control in an otherwise unpredictable world.

Even then, teaching felt less like play and more like grounding—a way to make sense of chaos.

School, however, was not the refuge I hoped it would be.

While it offered routine, it also became another site of harm. I struggled academically due to severe dyslexia that went largely unrecognized and unsupported. Reading was exhausting. Spelling was—and still is—extremely difficult. No matter how hard I tried, my effort was invisible.

Instead of receiving help, I was labeled.

Teachers called me stupid—sometimes indirectly, sometimes directly.
My parents called me stupid to my face.
They told me I was dumb, lazy, and not trying hard enough.

These words were not whispered. They were spoken plainly, repeatedly, and without hesitation—by the very adults who were supposed to teach and protect me.

Classmates laughed when I misspelled words or stumbled while reading aloud. Teachers treated my learning differences as character flaws. I was talked about rather than talked to. My difficulties were framed as defiance or lack of effort, not as signs that I needed support.

Over time, those words became my internal voice.

I stopped raising my hand.
I stopped trusting my instincts.
I stopped believing I was capable of learning at all.

School became associated with shame and failure—not because I lacked curiosity, but because curiosity had become dangerous.

As I grew older, my engagement with formal academics declined. Not because I didn’t want to learn—but because learning had come to mean exposure, judgment, and risk without safety.

And yet, the instinct to teach never left me.

I shared ideas with friends. I talked through books, beliefs, and questions late into the night. Teaching became relational rather than evaluative—rooted in shared understanding instead of correction. Without realizing it, I was reclaiming learning in a way school never allowed me to.

I did not set out to become a teacher. In fact, for a long time, I was certain I never would.

But becoming a parent changed everything.

Watching my children learn—especially my son, who is autistic—reshaped how I understood intelligence, behavior, and worth. I saw firsthand how quickly children are labeled, how narrowly success is defined, and how easily those definitions exclude brilliant, capable minds. I recognized myself in the children who struggled loudly and the ones who struggled quietly.

When I began working in intervention, something finally clicked.

I found myself sitting beside students who lived in the in-between—children who were behind, but not “enough.” Students whose needs were real, but not officially recognized. These were the children I had been: trying hard, misunderstood, and slowly learning to disappear.

My own school trauma changed the questions I asked.

I stopped asking, What’s wrong with this child?
I started asking, What has this child learned about themselves?
And just as importantly, what do they need now?

As a teacher, I intentionally disrupt the dynamics that once caused me harm. One of the first things I tell my students is that I am dyslexic. I tell them that I misspell words. I explain that if they notice a mistake on the board, they are welcome to raise their hand and help me fix it.

Immediately, something shifts.

Mistakes become normal.
Learning becomes collaborative.
Shame loses its power.

There is another rule in my classroom—one I am unwavering about.

“Stupid,” “I can’t,” and “hate” are not allowed words.

Not when students speak to each other.
Not when they speak about the work.
And especially not when they speak about themselves.

I explain that these words are heavy. They carry harm. They shut down curiosity and convince the brain to stop trying. Many of us learned these words long before we were old enough to understand what they do to us—and in this room, we learn a different language.

If a student says, “I’m stupid,” we pause and rewrite it together.
If someone says, “I can’t,” we add yet.
If a child says they hate something—or someone—we talk about what they are really feeling underneath that word.

Language shapes belief. And belief shapes behavior.

That is why social-emotional learning is not an add-on in my classroom—it is woven into everything we do. We spend intentional time building self-esteem, emotional awareness, and identity exploration. We talk about feelings, boundaries, strengths, and values. We practice naming emotions, reflecting on experiences, and understanding ourselves and one another more deeply.

SEL gives students language for what they feel and permission to explore who they are becoming. It teaches them that emotions are not weaknesses to be hidden, but information to be understood. Through reflection, discussion, and shared experiences, students learn to see themselves as capable, growing individuals—and to extend that same understanding to others.

That is why every Monday morning, we begin our week with affirmations.

Before the work begins—before expectations, lessons, or assessments—we take time to speak truth out loud.

I am capable.
I am allowed to learn at my own pace.
Mistakes help me grow.
I belong here.

These moments are quiet and intentional. They set the tone for the week ahead. Over time, I hear a shift in students’ language. I see the way their posture changes when they face something difficult.

At the beginning of the year, I also read my students You Matter by Christian Robinson. Afterward, we sit in a circle and take turns completing the sentence: “I matter because…” When a student struggles to find the words, the class helps. No one is skipped. No one is left alone with silence.

This is what grace looks like in practice.

Grace is not excusing harm or lowering expectations.
Grace is making room for growth without humiliation.
Grace is remembering that worth is not earned through performance.

Mercy, too, has a place here.

Mercy looks like curiosity instead of punishment.
Like pausing before reacting.
Like choosing connection over control.

Teaching is a position of power, and without reflection, that power can unintentionally recreate the very harm it is meant to prevent. I know this because I lived it. That is why I believe teaching must be rooted in mercy—especially when it is inconvenient, especially when it is undeserved.

I have seen how deeply students long to be seen and valued. For some, the classroom may be the only place where their academic and emotional needs are met with consistency and care. Trauma does not stay outside the classroom. It shapes behavior, self-perception, and the ability to learn—for students and educators alike.

This is why reflection matters.
Why trauma awareness matters.
Why social-emotional learning, grace, and mercy are not optional—but essential.

I did not become a teacher because school was kind to me.
I became a teacher because it wasn’t.

Because I know what it feels like to be called stupid by people whose words carry authority.
Because I know how shame silences curiosity.
Because I believe classrooms can be places of repair, not harm.

I cannot change what happened to me.

But I can meet my students with the grace I needed.
I can teach with the mercy I was denied.
I can help them explore who they are—safely, honestly, and with dignity.

And that is why I became a teacher.