CHAPTER 21: Make a Difference, Change a Life

People have asked why I chose teaching as a profession. I’ve often struggled to come up with a definitive answer. It wasn’t a life-long dream of mine, as it is for some, and I didn’t have family members or teachers who inspired me to follow in their footsteps. I did, however, have a love of children and an idealistic desire to make a difference in the world. After my first field experience in an elementary classroom, I knew that I had found my way for doing so. Teachers change lives. In my early years of teaching, I believed in the power and the truth embedded in those words. Twentytwo years and hundreds of students later, I still do.