Teaching has always intrigued me as a student, learner, and individual. It wasn’t until I began college that I gave myself the freedom to pursue teaching. Growing up, I always thought I would do something different, I never had my mind set on one thing for very long. My future career paths spanned from psychology to tattooing, all the way to nursing or flight-attending. Despite the constant changes, I always knew somewhere inside of me that I wanted to help people. In every profession that I had my eye on as a child and adolescent, there is one clear common factor, helping people. I began college as a psychology major, hoping to one day do just that, help people. As I got farther down the rabbit hole that is the world of psychology, I realized that although I still wanted to help people, I really wanted to help kids. So, after careful consideration and months of searching for different majors, I decided that teaching was my calling and english would be my ticket there. I have always loved english and teaching it to children and adolescents became my dream. That is, until I let doubt creep through the tiny cracks in my life.
Just like many people entering their desired professions, doubt shadowed around me as I began taking education courses and diving deeper into more difficult english classes. I began asking myself constantly, “can I actually do this?” I felt anxious, almost getting to the point of concluding that maybe this isn’t for me after all. Maybe I can’t do this. With this, I began letting myself believe that I won’t be a good teacher, I could never inspire kids like some of my best teachers have inspired me in the past. Then, the scariest fear of all, what if after a couple of years, I get burnt out on teaching?
These thoughts haunted me, made me seriously doubt myself and my own capabilities. I began stressing out frequently, feeling like the whole world was caving in and everything I have been working toward has been a complete waist of time. It became a black hole that I kept falling into, like there was nothing I could do to stop the fears that were at one point slowing eating my self confidence about my future alive.
Then, not too long ago, I realized that all of my fears were wrong. As a kid, my parents always told me that I will achieve what I believe. Basically, if I believe that I can do it, I will achieve what I am working toward. I realized that by telling myself that I’m not good enough, I can’t do this, I’m going to get burnt out on teaching; then, I probably will. However, if I switch these views around, deciding that I am strong enough, I have a passion for this, and that passion isn’t going anywhere; then, I will succeed. I’ve been working on this recently, feeding myself positive words of affirmation daily to boost my self confidence within my future profession again. Truly, it’s working, slowly but surely, I feel more confident every single day, realizing that I can do this, I want to do this, and I’m excited for this!
Sometimes, taking a deep breathe and realizing that you are your worst critic makes a world of difference in your perspective. I was telling myself things that were not true and slowly starting to believe them. On the flip side, by giving myself kind words and positive thoughts, my mindset is strengthening along with my will to teach. Although these fears are still real ones some days, I have found that deciding that they will not come true in my own life has given me the determination to keep moving forward.
So, I urge you, whatever lies you may be telling yourself right now, realize that you will achieve what you believe. Be kind to yourself, take a deep breath and begin telling yourself the truth! You got this, you are stronger than you think you are, and you are capable of achieving your dreams.
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