Why I Love My Job
Tuesday, I went and met with a group of student teachers up at Vassar. I hoped to share with them some of the many reasons that makes what we do the greatest job in the world, though part of me fears that a lot of what I said, particularly about how hard it is to find a teaching job these days, might have overshadowed what makes this job great. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a list, in no particular order, that highlights just some of the reasons I cannot possibly imagine doing anything else:
- Students come to me excited every morning to ask me if I “saw that on the news last night.”
- I work in an environment where collaboration with my co-workers is always valued more than competition with them.
- Each year, I get to meet and deeply know 100+ new people.
- I didn’t have to work my way up the ladder to do the work I want to do; I’ve been doing that work since day 1.
- Teaching is so intellectually demanding and challenging that it always provides new experiences to keep me interested.
- I get to work with adolescents at the moment when they are defining who they want to be for the rest of