Why?

Written By: Andrea Thanos 

Growing up I was surrounded by teachers, and each of these teachers were incredibly influential in my life. My mother was a third grade teacher for nearly twenty years, before she switched to teaching seventh and eighth grade students. She has taught me that, while it is important to make a plan for yourself, sometimes you have to live in the moment and not plan out each step. She taught me that the detours along the way, make the best memories. My aunt was a middle school teacher as well, up until she went back to school in order to become a principle. She taught me that even when you think you have done the best you can do, you’d be surprised at how much you have left in you. Her encouraging words to never settle for less than you deserve or can be, have prompted me to never underestimate myself and to always reach a little higher. My swim coach who has coached me since the age of seven, is a high school teacher. From him I have learned to “get comfortable being uncomfortable.”



While this quote isn’t his originally, he has made it his own. He hung it over the weight room wall and pool to encourage us that being “uncomfortable” in certain situations doesn’t always have to be a negative thing. Sometimes it is okay to be out of your comfort zone, because in those situations you will learn the most about yourself and how strong you never knew you were. My ability to persevere, didn’t only apply to all of the rigorous swim sets and five AM wake up calls for training, but has applied to nearly every hurdle I have encountered in my life. I never knew that I would be able to be captain of my swim team, or that I would have been able to be invited into the honors college at Michigan State.

So when you ask me, why? Why do I want to be a teacher? It is because I sincerely hope that one day when one of my students is asked what is one of the greatest life lessons you’ve ever learned? I hope a smile spreads across his/her face, and they think of their high school teacher who was able to teach him/her to believe in themselves a little more than they did before, or who taught them that even though life gets messy or more difficult it doesn’t mean something greater isn’t waiting for them around the next corner. I hope that high school teacher they're thinking of is me.