28 Gracie Summers – Literary Narrative

Gracie Summers is from Richmond, IN.  She is currently a sophomore studying Elementary Education. This work was prepared for Jackie Kauza’s Eng W290 class. Professor Kauza states, “Gracie’s narrative about becoming an education major starts with a great inversion, then takes the reader on a detailed journey through moments that influenced Gracie’s choice to go into education.”

Literary Narrative

“I could never be a teacher.” Those were the words that came out of my mouth in August of my senior year, and you’d think with that being just merely a year ago I wouldn’t be writing an essay about why I want to be a teacher. I was fully convinced teaching was not a career I was going to pursue. Growing up, my mom has always been a first-grade teacher, and with that, I’ve seen the sides of teaching that are hard and seem impossible at times. I’ve watched my mom be such an important influence in so many students’ lives, while also having times when teaching was harder emotionally and physically than I think I ever anticipated. Watching these hardships led me to not want to be a teacher, and at times I even thought being a teacher was one of the worst jobs you could have. Slowly, I realized I never really allowed myself to see just how teaching was a calling, not just a job or career. I’ve always been the person who loved kids. Since the 7th grade, I’ve known I was meant to help children in some way. I was fully convinced from the age of twelve that teaching was not my calling, and I was meant to be a pediatric nurse. But then came my senior year of high school.

My senior year of high school was a year full of so many questions that needed answers. One of those questions being “What career do you want to pursue after high school?” Being the stubborn person I was last August, I was fully convinced teaching was not my calling, and every time someone told me “You’d be such a great teacher” or “It’s in your blood,” I shut that thought down within seconds. Following all these questions and discussions, somehow or another I ended up in an education course through IU East the fall semester of my senior year and ended up volunteering at a preschool for 90 minutes every day. With the heart I had for kids, I thought it’d be fun just to be around kids and get out of the school building for 90 minutes every day. But as the semester went on and December rolled around, I started to question the career I truly felt called toward. It was really confusing, as I had always told myself I’d never allow myself to be a teacher, after watching the impact it had on my mom and seeing how poorly teachers are viewed at times within our society. But then I watched my group of five-year-olds grow every day and started to question maybe I was meant to be a teacher after all. I remember coming home one day in December after every conversation with my parents being “What college do you want to go to?” or “What school has the best nursing program?” and thinking maybe teaching was my calling.

As I ended up taking that education course through IU East, I slowly but surely caught the teacher bug as they call it. A lot of the reason I fell in love with teaching not only was because of my group of preschoolers but was because of my professor Jerry Wilde. I learned that teaching wasn’t just a job; it was a calling and is so much more than the books. Eventually, after several months of putting off all the questions that needed answers, one night at dinner, I said to my parents, “I think I want to be a teacher.” Both of my parents looked at me in shock, considering the fact I was fully convinced I was going to be a pediatric nurse since my junior year. After some conversation, my dad said, “Well I guess Jerry is doing his job–maybe even a little too well.” A lot of the reason I saw the side of teaching I did was because of Jerry. He showed us future teachers that teaching is so much more than the books, and it’s the relationships and understanding your student that matter the most. We as future teachers got to see just a small snippet of what teaching is. Through this course at IU East I was provided with so many different experiences that showed me how teaching is a calling, and within that there’s so much community. I can remember one specific day where Jerry taught us the importance of knowing the whole child and that really caught my attention. He showed us that, at the end of the day, the good days will always outweigh the bad. With that, I realized that it was my purpose to make a safe space for the kids that don’t have one at home. I realized I was meant to be the influence in a kid’s life that they’ll remember forever.

Along with Jerry, watching my group of five-year-olds grow in so many ways impacted me deeply. From learning how to write their names, to learning how to share, to them yelling “Miss Gracie!” every morning when I walked in and then running to give me a hug, it all gave me a feeling I knew I was called for. Watching them grow in so many ways led my heart to know I was meant to be a teacher. I had one student specifically that really led my heart to where it is today. My student Arthur gave me what felt like a purpose. As Arthur has autism, he really didn’t like school at times and had a hard time connecting with adults and peers. With that, as the year went by, Arthur slowly but surely became my little buddy. As soon as I got to his class every day, he’d run and give me a hug and always was telling me about some dinosaur fact he’d hyper-fixated on that day. He let me into his little world, which showed me and led me to think how I can have such an impact on students’ lives, even if it’s the smallest aspect. Now a year later, I can’t imagine doing any other major than education, and since that day in August I’ve fallen even more in love with teaching and never looked back.