I decided to become a teacher during the third year of my biology degree because I felt that teaching was consistent with my interests and values. I love to learn, and I cannot imagine having a career where I am not learning every day. More importantly, I really enjoy being able to share my passions with others and get students excited about learning.

Family Farm in Quesnel, BC

I came to hold the value of high expectations for my students through my parents and my own expectations for myself. Since I was ten years old, my family has lived on a small hobby farm. All family members were expected to contribute to the various chores that needed to be done in order to keep everything running. This involved quite a bit of physical labour that was not always enjoyable. Caring for animals is unlike household chores because not carrying out your responsibilities will cause suffering for the animals whereas forgetting to do the laundry is relatively inconsequential. For this reason, I would spend large amounts of time doing chores I did not necessarily enjoy.

I believe that this is the source of the work ethic that has helped me be successful in school. Putting forth my best efforts in subjects I found difficult has almost always paid off and showed me that I am able to achieve the goals I set for myself. I understand that students are individuals who may be stronger in some areas than others, so I do not expect that every student will be exceptional in my class. However, every student can set difficult but realistic goals for themselves.

The high expectations I have for my students tie into my value of showing respect for everyone. I believe that my value of respect came from my parents and other adult role models I had growing up. In addition to explicitly explaining to me why I should treat everyone with respect, they modelled it too. They never related a person’s value to their race, religion, ethnicity, occupation, etc. and were generally kind to everyone. Regardless of what a person does or says, they are still a human being who should be treated as such. Even if they do something immoral, treating another person as if the value of their life is less than yours will not only create negative emotions but will be unlikely to affect that person’s behaviour.

Looking back at my own education, I have fond memories but I also remember resenting school. My teachers used very teacher-centred teaching styles, so I was usually quite bored and unengaged. As I grew older and started to appreciate the subjects, I was able to enjoy school more but it was still not enjoyable. Sitting and listening to the teacher talk for most of the class followed by working on text book questions is difficult to get excited about. When I reached university, many of my classes had a laboratory component. Having opportunities to do hands-on experiments and really experience the content was a refreshing change. Engaging with the material in this way helps to bring abstract concepts into a context that is tangible and meaningful.