Joys and Struggles

Liberty University

Abstract
Teaching is a calling that comes with many joys and many struggles. Rewards include knowing that we are making a difference in the lives of our students, the opportunity to be a lifetime learner, and having a desirable work schedule; challenges include having to create a productive learning environment, dealing with reforms in education, and low pay. As teachers, we have to be able to both love the joys and overcome the struggles.

Joys and Struggles
One day, we will walk into our own classroom to find twenty-five little faces gazing up expectantly at us, waiting for us to teach them. At that moment, we will finally be able to put into practice all that we have learned to live out our calling to become teachers. In that first year, and the many to follow, we will face both joys and struggles. Some of the rewards include knowing that we are making a difference in the lives of our students, the opportunity to be a lifetime learner, and having a desirable work schedule; challenges include having to create a productive learning environment, dealing with reforms in education, and low pay. Teaching won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it.
One of the greatest joys of teaching is being able to make a difference in the lives of students that enter our classrooms. Even now, there are teachers that I remember who did more than just teach me to read and write; they also invested their lives into mine. Mrs. Bobalek, my sixth grade teacher, is one of them. Every year she would invite her class to her house. While we were there, we were able to run wild on her large farm where she rehabilitated injured wild animals. During the year I was in her class, she learned she had breast cancer. She did not try to hide it from us; in fact, she took off her wig to show us when she lost her hair during chemo. She