I am a Teacher

A few years ago, I penned the following post after completing a 3-month job interview with Epic; which, unfortunately ended in rejection.  While the post was penned in frustration, it was one of the most introspective pieces that I have written.  In all honesty, it helped me trudge through two more years as a high school teacher.

I am a teacher.

For the last decade, I have been on a journey of self-discovery to find the label that best fits me.  I tried officer, but asthma derailed that path.  I thought about drifter, but my craving for stability could not be ignored.  I applied for the title of businessman, but, after a summer of half-hearted searching, the passion never ignited (and I was rejected).  For the last decade, I have been running from the label that defines who I am at my core…

I am a teacher.

To type that statement and to feel supremely confident in each keystroke is cathartic.

I am a teacher.

To those who know me, this label is a no-brainer.  However, in my personal battle to define and to achieve success, the label teacher has become a contradiction.  At an idealistic 23 years of age, I felt that success could and should be measured by the individual, not society.  After blinking a few times, four years passed and I saw my friends earn titles such as PhD, DDS, MSW, CPA, and JD while I struggled to commit to a career or graduate school path that would save me from the field of education.  All of a sudden, I am 27 and my idealistic notion of success made a seismic shift: Success = $$$.  Maybe it is the recent sting of rejection, but I am thinking that I need to develop a definition of success that is more in line with that of my 23 year-old self… Success is an individual’s ability to discover who he is and to master his craft.

I am a teacher.