Yesterday was my last day of student teaching; an unexpectedly bittersweet conclusion as, delighted as I am with my newfound freedom, I actually found myself a little sad to say goodbye to the kids. Maybe this is a further sign (along with others here and there throughout the semester) that the teaching profession is a good fit for me, or that I’m a good fit for it.
To be totally honest, I wasn’t 100% certain of this all semester. I consider myself something of an academic, comfortable with books and school work, but, as many difficult semesters as I’ve had before, I’m not exaggerating when I say that student teaching has, in many ways, been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. Between my commitments at my high school, preparing for class each day, grading papers, actually teaching, etc, and the additional paperwork required by my graduate program and the state of NC (which practically doubled my work load) I had absolutely no spare time or life outside of my work. I don’t tend to handle stress well, so I thank God for the support of my family and friends, as well as for my excellent supervising teacher, without whom I doubt I would have made it through as well as I have.
This has been an extremely stretching semester for me, and I feel like I’ve grown immensely. I’ve worked like crazy, but when I look back at where I was as a teacher upon first starting compared to where I am now, I can see that it’s paid off, and I know I’m far more qualified for this job than when I first started. It’s been a long, hard road, but looking back it’s interesting to track my progress; it’s encouraging and I can’t help feeling a sense of accomplishment. I’m excited to have the chance to take control of my own classroom, continuing to learn and grow both personally and professionally.