How my dream of being a teacher began...

Since I was a little girl I always wanted to be a teacher. I’m the oldest child in my family. I had some responsibilities to help my youngest brothers and sister with their homework. When I was in a fourth grade, I met a Mrs. Tipikina. She became my favorite teacher. She worked as a language arts teacher and was my classroom teacher till high school. It is different than in US schools, in former USSR republic classroom teachers were thought of like a “second mother.” They were responsible for not just their students’ educational achievement, mentoring and advising but taught how to be a good person in general.

After high school graduation and I have enjoyed volunteering in her classroom. This helped me realize how fortunate I was to discover how fun learning is when I was at such an early age. Mrs. Tipikina’s lessons were authentic, colorful and interactive. I remember when I was her student and we learned how to write compositions, Mrs. Tipikina made a lot of comments on the margins of my homework papers and always returned with stickers, stars, and words of praise and encouragement. Memories like these bring a big smile to my face. I also remember Mrs. Tipikina when she read a chapter to us from a storybook. She would change her voice with the characters and use gesticulations to add to the events in the story.

In addition to appreciating learning as an ongoing process, Mrs. Tipikina taught me that discipline, hard work and having fun are all a part of learning and teaching. These are skills and traits I plan to instill in my students and have them benefit from my passion for education similar to how I benefited from Mrs. Tipikina’s passion. I admired her eagerness to teach her students. I witnessed the growth that her students experienced. I know that her students learned much more than the words in their textbooks. I witnessed how every lesson was carefully planned, every student was taken into account and how she made every effort to give her students the very best education.

From these experiences, I have learned the joy of teaching and educating others. As I continued through school, my dream of teaching grew stronger and I felt myself being drawn to positions where I was around children. This sentiment has led me towards volunteering and teaching activities where, for example, I worked as a Teacher Assistant, camp instructor, Russian Literature Teacher, and had the benefit of working with children for the past seventeen years. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with so many children and look forward to working with them on a daily basis.

In spending time with children, I have experienced and observed how important the relationship is between the role model teacher and the student. Mrs. Tipikina planted the initial seed to inspire me to emulate her. This combined with other great teachers I have had and my own teaching experiences have reinforced and further strengthened my desire to be a teacher. I am eager to share my passion with my students to better shape their futures.

Becoming a teacher has been an important part of my life for many years. In fourth grade, I met the person that would inspire my career path – my teacher. From her, I learned so much more than writers’ biographies and proper sentence structure. Thanks to Mrs. Tipikina and other great teachers I have had, I know that there is more to learning than what the teacher writes up on the blackboard. To future students of my own, I plan to pass on the principle that education is invaluable and help them create dreams of their own. A skillful teacher can inspire, motivate, stimulate, and develop the minds of students. He or she must be well educated; be able to work with a diversity of students, parents, and other teachers; and be highly competent in presenting subject matter.

I want to live a life of service to others, especially children. I want to nurture them and be the person that lifts them up. I want them to feel like they could fly if they put their mind to it. I want to show them the beauty, power and courage inside them, even if they don't always see it in themselves. I want my classroom to be an exciting adventure land but also a safe haven all at once. I want children to leave my class with more confidence, compassion, and enthusiasm for life and learning than they entered it. I will teach them the skills they need to know to succeed academically, and the skills they will need to love themselves and others. Perhaps I will only plant seeds that I may never personally see flower, but I will not ever give up. As a teacher I will have great power to change lives. This power will be humbling, exhilarating, overwhelming, frightening, but exceedingly worthwhile. That’s why I decided to be a teacher!