I didn't choose to teach.

I'm a teacher, but I didn't choose to teach.

I bet if you asked the nation's pre-service teachers why they want to teach, the majority of them would tell you that they want to make a difference somehow. I know because I was there once, and I chose to make a difference, too.

I didn't choose to teach because I wanted to spend my days checking dress code. I teach because I want to be there for a student who doesn't have a coat to wear in the freezing cold of winter.

I didn't choose to teach because I enjoy listening to adolescents tell stories about who partied at whose house last weekend. I teach because I want to be a shoulder to cry on for the students whose best friend hung himself last night.

I didn't choose to teach because I wanted to be able to tell the difference between a student who really needs to go to the bathroom and a student who just wants to get out of class. I teach because I want to be there to help the student who just came back from cutting herself in the bathroom.

I didn't choose to teach because I like to hear the ramblings of the self-professed 'pot heads' in my classroom. I teach because I hope to be the one person who actually gets through to them and shows them that they can have and be more.

I didn't choose to teach because I enjoy giving directions multiple times just to hear someone ask what we're doing immediately after I'm finished. I teach because I love seeing their eyes light up when they finally understand what they're doing.

I didn't choose to teach because I like eating my lunch in less than fifteen minutes while sitting in a lunch room exploding with the sounds of high school. I teach because I need to be there for the student who tells me on Monday that she hasn't eaten since Friday because she doesn't have any food at home.

I didn't choose to teach because I wanted to spend hours every week writing lesson plans that will not go as planned. I teach because I love how it feels when those lessons fall perfectly into place and I can feel my students learning.

As I pulled my projector screen down and wrote the date on the board this morning, I thought about how bad I wanted to go back home. I caught myself wishing the day would pass by quickly. Then I reminded myself that that is not why I do what I do. I don't come to work to pass the time. I come to work for my students.

We motivate the unmotivated.
We love the unlovable.
We teach the unteachable.
We are teachers, but we didn't choose to teach. We chose to make a difference, so that's what we will do.