A Big Decision

I’ve wanted to be a teacher for some time, but for various reasons, I’m not. I hold two bachelor’s degrees, neither of which I use or want to teach with. Finance isn’t typically taught at a high school level and my Spanish is no where near good enough to teach it. A couple years ago I took two different math Praxis tests (middle school – passed and high school – did not pass) to work towards getting my certification to teach.
I’d heard from a few different people that they will hire you to teach with out a teaching degree I applied for a few different school districts.  I had one phone call and that was all, which was disappointing, but at the same time I was at a disadvantage because I didn’t have a degree.

Shortly after the school year began another job landed in my lap.  So I’m now working M-F (which is awesome).  So I kind of decided to just leave everything at the status quo.  I like my job and it’s essentially stress free.

But then I found out about this class you can take to get your teacher’s certification.  Which would be a huge help, but it’s pretty expensive too so I wasn’t sure I wanted to pursue it because what if I did it, paid all that money, and didn’t get a teaching job?  Then it would be just as wasteful as the other two degrees that I am still paying for that I don’t use.

But being afraid to do something, to put yourself out there, is a terrible reason not to do something.  That’s the reason why I haven’t had a date in longer than I care to share.  The same reason why I suck at losing weight.  So I decided that I’m going to do it, provided that I pass the high school math praxis because I would much rather teach high school than middle school.

I know that it’s going to require work.  It’s going to be a lot of studying for the math praxis, something that I’m probably going to have to commit to daily, or almost daily, to ensure that I pass.  It’s also going to mean in the spring when I take the class I will have to spend those few months studying as well (in addition to a couple of Saturday classes).

6 years ago before I moved to Virginia I made a final push to get my finance degree at UWW.  I went to school full time (15 credits) and worked full time just so I could finish in May.  It was one of the most difficult things I’ve done, but also one of the best.  If I can do that, I know I can do this.

I know it’ll be worth it when I finish.