That question; I could not count how many times I have been asked about my decision to pursue a career in this particular sector. I am assuming it always goes like this, people still partly look at you as a child and cannot wrap their heads around the fact that you have made a life transforming decision.

To be honest, during these past few months I have learnt the short answer to it by heart.

“I just really love children and I imagine working with them will leave me feeling rewarded at the end of each day. That’s what I expect from a job; knowing I am doing something that makes me happy and someone else benefits from it at the same time.”

I don’t want to deny that is truth.
However, if I was to actually stop and think in depth about the reasons why I chose this path, I would not be this superficial. I am not going to lie just in order to be able to tell the dreamy fairytale happening in real life. Thus, it would not be true if I said it was my life-long dream to become a teacher. Nor did I spend my childhood pretending the dolls and stuffed animals in the bedroom of our house were my class. What led me to the decision of wanting to become a professional in this area dates “only” a number of years back.

I am a semi-professional tennis player and one day a coach from the tennis club I used to represent called in sick. The group of children he was supposed to train was already waiting on the courts, therefore it would have been unprofessional to send them home at that point. Long story short, I got asked to take over the lesson and I never looked back. Soon after that, I got the opportunity to start my own regular tennis classes.

Available at: http://www.sproughtontennis.co.uk/images/juniorcartoon.jpg (Accessed: 16 September 2016)

One of the girls from my very first group, who was only 3 years old on the day of our first training, kept coming to my lessons three times a week until this summer when I moved out of my home country. When I recall the first time I put a racket in her tiny hand and she held it the opposite way around and then compare it to the moment we travelled together to her first junior tournament, I want to both smile and cry. It is safe to say I miss her and the rest of the children greatly. I could not feel more blessed to have had this eye-opening opportunity which has allowed me to realize there most likely isn’t anything in this world that could make me happier than working with children.

As cheesy as these talks may sound, there is nothing I would not love about being around kids. Although I am aware there is a long way to go ahead of me and it will not always be easy, I am more than ready to tackle any obstacle and difficulty.

It will surely be a challenge, possibly the more because of the language barrier caused by the fact English is not my native language. Yet, I am convinced it is right to be that way as being a teacher is a huge amount of responsibility and we need to be fully prepared for the impact we’ll have on other human beings who are still in the process of forming. But as of right now, I am looking forward to every single bit of it.