Why you chose to be an educator? I prayed over becoming an educator for a while before answering the calling to teach. I can list several teachers that impacted my life throughout my education and I wanted to give back just like them. It is easy to just teach, however students need to know that you are here for them, you care about them

To borrow and modify a line from Forrest Gump, teachers are like a box of chocolates- you never know which ones will make an impact on your life. There are three that I can say influenced me to enter education.

I chose to be a teacher because I wanted to be a positive role model for my students. When I began my teaching career, too many students were choosing negative role models or role models that they thought they could be exactly like (famous people).

I did not become a teacher when I graduated from Columbus State University in 2011. I have
ALWAYS been a teacher. As the oldest of six younger brothers, I helped with homework and
taught them basic life skills such as how to tie their shoes and how to play and share with others.

I came to education as a career change, previously I was a Sheriff’s Deputy and in that line of work your interactions with people are often on their worst day. In education I feel you can reach someone before they get to that point and help them find a better path, and that is why I choose to be an educator.

Becoming an educator was the last thing that I ever thought that I would become. From the third grade through the 12th grade I was bullied. I became a student that hated school and did my best to be a nameless face in the crowd only doing the minimum to get by.

I have always enjoyed learning and then doing math, I was good at it, and I was fortunate to have great math teachers. To spend an entire career sharing that enjoyment with new students every year always seemed like the ideal job, and that has turned out to be exactly the case for me.