Why I Accepted a Job That Was Not My Dream Job

As I reflect back on my 30 years in this world, I think of everything I have gone through and all that I have learned. I think back to where my inspirations came from and what I want to get out of life. Then it hits me. I want to be a teacher no matter what it takes.

Here is some background information: In order to become an educator, there are several steps you must go through. You have to earn a Bachelors Degree of some sort, and enter an Education Program. You have to take state-mandated tests and achieve certain scores on each test depending on the field you are studying. You must complete hundreds of hours of observations in classrooms and teach lessons to students, and you have to receive certain scores on those lessons as well. You then have to complete another program called “Student Teaching” where you are assigned a teacher and a classroom for 15 weeks where you take over the classroom entirely. Once this is all completed, you are ready to graduate and start searching for a job. Easy enough, right? For me, not so much…

I did not exactly pass the second round of tests I needed to in order to enter my “student teaching semester”. I missed the test by one point. Yes, one point. However, this happened to me THREE TIMES. I felt like such a failure and I felt like giving up. If I could not pass the ‘teaching test’, how the heck was I going to educate other students in the subject? It felt like nothing was going right for me. I ended up having to put school off for an entire year to evaluate if this was the right field for me. I got a job as a paraprofessional (an aid) in a non-verbal, autism classroom. I was there for a year and it completely changed my life. Those students who could not speak for themselves changed me in ways I can never explain. They made me a better person. They made me more patient, more understanding, and strengthened my passion for teaching in more ways than I can count. I took the test at the end of the year, and passed. This is it! I am finally going to be a Student Teacher!

Wrong.

Since I took so much time off from school, my university felt I was “not up to date” on the current practices of the classroom so I had to attend a summer school and teach random lessons to be evaluated….not to mention the only week they would allow this to happen was the week I was getting married! Talk about bad timing!

As it turns out, the observations deemed I was ready and could complete student teaching. I started that fall with the most amazing high school English teacher anyone could ask for! Everything I know about teaching, I learned from her.

Fast forward and I landed an interview weeks after Graduation. They even called me back for a second interview and it went so well….. or as least I thought.

I was denied the job in my dream district to another current teacher and I was devastated.

I landed several interviews in other districts and was denied those jobs, too.

The following school year I was offered a one-year contracted longterm teaching position with seniors at my dream school, in my dream district. I was on cloud 9.

That year was the most insightful, amazing, interesting, eye-opening and wonderful year I have ever had. Those students became my children and I cried the entire week leading up to graduation. I did not want the year to end. We became family, and I did not know what I was going to do without them.

When the contract was up, there was no job for me. I went on a few more interviews that summer and did not get offered any jobs. I was defeated.

That same dream high school contacted me with another offer: a five-month maternity leave position…. of course I took it but it was not what I wanted. I wanted to be a contracted teacher in the high school.

I began to wonder if I would ever be good enough for them. I started to reevaluate everything and I asked myself: Is this really the place for me? Why do I want to be here so badly? Should I begin to invest my time elsewhere? Why don’t they want to hire me?

Then it happened. An English teacher at the middle school retired and the job opened up. I went on an interview. Then, I was called back for a second interview. A few days later, the phone rang…..

THEY OFFERED ME THE POSITION.

A million things ran through my mind…. This is NOT the school I want to be in. This is NOT the grade level I want to teach. Why can’t I just get a job in the high school? It’s been my dream since I can remember.

Then, it hit me…. WHY do I love that high school so much? What about it makes it more important or any better than any other school? Why is it so special?

I could not answer any of these questions and it was then that I realized: to become a teacher is my dream. It should not matter where I am, or what grade level I want to be in. The opportunity to educate young minds is enough. Teaching is enough.

So, I have officially accepted my “non-dream job” and I could not be any happier or more grateful. Your “dream job” or ideal situation is not always what you think it’s going to be. Sometimes, you just might surprise yourself and love your “non-dream” way more.

xoxo