Personal Statement on Becoming an Educator from Shelby L. Carbaugh

Crossroads and the span of a human life are numerous. Each one of us finds

ourselves at junctures along the way. And, we must always ask that fundamental

question… “Do I take the path of least resistance? Or, should I travel the bumpier path,

that which has more sacrifices along the way?” We all may find that a bit cliché, but all

the same that is our human condition. Teaching is to me that inevitable destination that I

have finally reached as I approach my personal crossroads. Why become an educator?

Who is a teacher? Why should I take that clichéd bumpier path at this juncture in my

life? If I break those simple questions down to their most basic level the answer I come

up with is that the happiest people I know are teachers, or educators in some capacity.

These individuals, like myself, have a basic need and drive to help others. They desire

that human connection that helping brings to all parties involved. The path down which I

have traveled and has led me to this place has made me realize a talent to connect with

people on perhaps a deeper level than most. The process of this realization has

awakened a natural way of connecting intuitively with teenagers. I have experienced this

both personally and professionally in how I have been able to relate as a mentor to those

young people in a corporate setting, the teenagers in my employee as a manager in a

previous career, and most intensely as a stepmother to four teenagers.

In further asking myself that question “Why be an educator in the formal sense of

the word?” I have drawn this conclusion. Those individuals in my thirty four years that

have been the most influential are not my corporate “heroes,” but rather those I have

encountered in an academic setting, specifically as a high school student. The way as an

adult I analyze or look at the world is because of these individuals. I feel they instilled in

me, or rather awakened in me a desire to know more, to strive to understand more, and to

question that to which I encounter. What a gift!! What a tremendous honor to these great

people to join in their ranks and bring that gift to the next generation. To be a part of

those crucial years where that seed is planted and foundation laid is where I want to be.

In merely recognizing it I become a part of it, we all do. This to me explains to a great

degree why those that teach share that sense of happiness that I have recognized, a greater

satisfaction than most are able to experience. I guess for me the question rather would be

“Why not teach?”

In summary my approachability coupled with an empathic nature I feel are

characteristics mandatory to fill this role. When you marry those with my passion and

drive to continuously learn and stretch you have the makings of a great teacher, the kind I

strive to be! Being in a culture and climate of young people and their youthful spirit and

minds can only be beneficial to us all. So, with all that being said I hope to finally

become a certified teacher and be a part of our educational system as it adapts to our

ever-changing society and fast paced lives, which affect both our students and we as

teachers.