Claudia Martinez

Becoming a teacher has always been one of my life goals. As a child, that meant beating the chalk dust out of erasers, organizing [everyting!] by color, teaching my class of stuffed animals how to subtract, and using a red pen to grade made up homework assignments. As a high school graduate, this meant having a neat and tidy classroom with desks lined up in rows or small groups, teaching eager young children, owning a teacher planner, recording grades, and taking attendance. Even as a university graduate, I clung to the more idealistic perspective of what it means to be a teacher. It wasn't until I got my first real taste of being "the" teacher in the classroom that reality came crashing down.

I was so excited to have received my very first assignment as a brief [three month] long-term substitute teacher in the same school that I interned. Nothing but pure, raw experience could have prepared me for what I was walking into. Internship alone would never have been enough. I learned more in those three months that I did the last two years at university getting my degree. Most of these experiences were lessons learned [the hard way because there is no other way] and I am fortunate to say that I did not come out of it scarred for life. I tried, I learned, I modified, and I applied. And I know in my heart that this is what I'm meant to be because it makes me happy like nothing else can.

Some of what I learned was that:

• perfection is overrated.
• no matter how many times you stay until five in the evening, your plans will always change the next day.
• keeping it simple and meaningful is where it's at.
• technology can be a powerful tool, but don't take it for granted or rely on it for everything.
• keeping your lines of communication open with other teachers and faculty is invaluable.

It's been a challenging and often frustrating journey, for sure, but it will be so worth it when I finally reach my goal. Despite the hardships that come with the job, it doesn't deter me in the slightest. I know my reason for getting into this profession and it has never had anything to do with my annual income or the kind of press coverage I can score. I simply chose it because I love it. I'm passionate about it. I want to surround myself with people that are, too.