I was born into a middle-class family, blessed with a functioning body and a reliable brain. I was living in a wealthy country and attended a well-resourced school. What was I supposed to do with this good fortune? Use it to make more money? Increase my wealth so that my children can be even more fortunate?
After what had felt like an hour, an answer appeared in my brain. “You’re here to help….you’re here to help others.”
It may not sound particularly profound, but it has guided every career decision in my life ever since.
Becoming a teacher
I chose teaching as the way to help others and in 2012 began working as an early childhood teacher. In the following 11 years I have worked as a before- and after-school teacher, a sports coach and a primary school teacher, all motivated by the purpose of helping others.
Teaching is filled with others that share this purpose, yet the profession is still desperate for more of us. It is an extremely difficult job: the hours are long, the workload is large and the stress can feel insurmountable. It can be too much for some people.
But there are those who love it even though it is hard. Those who can still find meaning in their work when at times the wider community doesn’t doesn’t give us the credit we feel we deserve. Teaching finds mysterious ways to reward those that are there for the right reasons. I entered teaching with the purpose of helping others and found the most meaningful work that there is.
