It's very difficult to suddenly realize a career choice might be way to much for you. Today was one of those days. It wasn't even a very bad day necessarily, just a tad bit on the slow side. In all of the lag that went throughout my day, I found myself contemplating on the future of this type of career choice.
If I were to pursue a career in teaching I find myself constantly asking myself the question, "Can I honestly do this knowing most of my lessons will be thrown out the the back door of student's minds as boring and irrelevant in their owns lives?" On a daily basis I am in classes where the majority of those students care very little about what they are being taught and allowing those educational opportunities to pass over them like an air ball during a Basketball game. The value of receiving a good education no longer exists within the youth of today. Values are now placed on increasing the amount technology one has in order to stay entertained at all times, or to at least be entertained at the touch of a button.
I understand how they feel, it sucks to be forced to stay in a building requiring you to use your academic and problem solving skills for seven hours out of every day. I went through it for twelve years, and then even more so during college. seventeen years of my life have been spent in school, learning and applying my knowledge to paper. And if I go back to school to earn my teacher's certification, that will be exactly 20 years of my life spent inside the walls of academia. It's not a fun ride and I hated almost every minute of it for all my years in school, but I at least gave it my best. Sure, there were many times where my behavior wasn't the best, but I always tried to do well in school. Today, kids could give a flying fuck about what their grades come out be or if they will pass or fail. Their self worth is no longer based on an educational standard.
Do I really want to continue down a career path that I know will be even worse condition once I get a teaching job? The past couple of days have been filled with contemplation about this very thing and I'm becoming more and more hesitant in pursuing this goal. I don't want to do what it takes to be a college professor, but I'm not sure I want to put up with the absolute idiocy that will come along with teaching children under the age of sixteen.
