My thing is, sometimes it just takes one decent teacher to show they care to brighten up a kid's day. A lot of kids have shitty lives, then they go to school and have shitty burnt out teachers. Some people might get motivated to have even just one teacher that they know has their back and wants them to succeed. My life blew at a lot of points as a kid, but to this day I still remember my 7th grade math teacher and my 10th grade English teacher, because they were legitimately a bright spot in a place where most people were struggling, lots of crime and gangs, etc. but those teachers stood out and actually gave a shit among a bunch of teachers who were just clocking in and doing the bare minimum.
One of the things that got me interested in teaching is how many not for profit, open to the public, STEM charter schools that are opening, where the goal is to set kids up for a legitimate future in STEM fields. A lot of these schools are struggling to keep IT and Engineering teachers because IT and Engineers can make way more money elsewhere. I'd love to actually help mold a good future for youth in this community I live in that reminds me of the community I grew up in. It would be nice to help kids learn something useful as well and not the bullshit I grew up learning. I'll be applying to teach useful subjects and try and be someone they can actually count on to learn from and to get mentorship from.
