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Gabrielle G. Gamble
Paper 1

Teach Not To Get Rich, But To Enrich the Lives of Others

Teaching has not only become a passion of mine, it is a way of life for me. Every
experience I get to teach a person something new is very rewarding. Even through the
confusion about my major and the struggles that come with being a teacher, there is not a job
more satisfying than educating. Throughout my entire life I have diddled in many sports and
activities. I have never felt as confident in my future as I have with knowing I will be a teacher. I
want to teach to instill a love for learning in children; I want to impact a childs life, just like
many of my great teachers have impacted mine. If not anything, I know I am and will be a great
teacher.
The problem with todays public school system is that, results on exams and
standardized tests are more important than a students learning. More and more teachers are
getting pressured by administration to focus curriculum on only exam based material. Teachers
are expected to cut out valuable information from their lesson plans if it is not likely to be on an
exam. Many teachers are expected to cram information that will be on the test into a students
head and if they are unsuccessful in making sure students retain the material, they have failed
as a teacher. The performance of students on a standardize test are supposedly a reflection of
how good or bad a teacher is, when in fact a student could be given the best teacher, and yet
they could get test anxiety and perform poorly on the test; this should not be an indication of

how a teacher can educate students. Another way school systems and administration make
sure a teachers class can pass a test is through monetary incentives; before an exam one of my
teachers showed us a picture of his family, saying Please pass so I dont have to pick up a
second job over the summer! That amount of pressure put on teachers and students has
corrupted the public school system. School is no longer about learning but about passing
exams. Due to this increased pressure on teachers to focus on exam scores, it seems as though
many educators have lost their passion. Teaching should not be about increased stipends based
on passing rate or making sure a school has the highest FCAT score to increase funding;
teaching should be about passion for children and learning, a teacher should want to inspire
students to do better in the classroom and in everyday society.
I was sitting in my senior English class when I started to doze off. Mr. Lymre was
teaching us about critical perspectives when a student did not understand and asked for further
clarification, Mr. Lymre just repeated verbatim, what was in our Springboard book. At that
moment, I realized my teacher was just a puppet and his puppet master was administration
who made sure he taught from Springboard (a college success textbook). Every day was
routine, all the lesson plans were centered on this book, which actually hindered the
capabilities of students. As a senior in high school, I expected my teacher to prepare me for
college writing and assist me with college entrance essays. That was not the case in my last year
of my high school education I was learning about diction, syntax and TAFI (To begin,
Additionally, Finally and In conclusion; the accurate way to set up an essay). Everything I was
taught in my senior English class was a hindrance; in no way did my teacher or Springboard help
me read or write at a college level. It was like all of my teachers were robots and they knew no

other way to teach. Most, if not all of the students hated this book and therefore made us talk
and disruptive; hence, our teachers were annoyed and acted as though they hated their jobs. I
loved school and every aspect about learning; I started to like school at a young age. The crisis I
identified about how the education system is going downhill is the fuel to my fire. It makes me
so passionate about wanting to make a change when I am a teacher.
Though Mr. Lymre was not the best teacher, I had my fair share of amazing teachers.
Another great motivator for me wanting to be a teacher is that I am still inspired by a great
teacher I had when I was younger. I went to a private Christian school for my elementary
education; all of my teachers were very loving and were passionate about their jobs. My
experiences with public school versus private school were very different. I still keep in contact
with many of my elementary school teachers because we have created such strong bonds just
through the connections we made in the classroom. My first grade teacher Mrs. Transki taught
me how to read, and ever since then I became a book worm. She was fun, caring and insightful;
she is everything I want to be when I am a teacher. Her passion in her career showed through
the way she taught and without a doubt, always has a contagious smile on her face. In the third
grade, my teacher was Mrs. Newton. She was a plump, bubbly and cheerful woman. When I
struggled with writing in cursive (which was a necessary way of writing in the third grade), she
put in extra time to help me with my penmanship. During our free time in class, she would sit
with me and demonstrate how each letter was connected and cursive was a flow of writing.
Though a teacher helping with penmanship does not seem like a very memorable moment, but
she helped me perfect cursive writing, now I hardly ever write in print.

My freshman year of high school, I acquired a job at the Brandon Family YMCA as a
summer camp counselor. Despite the awful humidity and whiny kids, I had the best experience.
I was put into situations where kids had food allergies, a lice epidemic and having to make up
new plans according to rainy days. At some point, I thought I was going to quit, I was not
getting paid enough to deal with all the trauma the job put me through. I stuck it out, only
because I felt so rewarded when I saw the smile on each childs face when they were enjoying
camp. I thought to myself, Look how happy they are, all because my co-workers and I had fun
activities planned. I then decided I wanted to enroll in the Early Childhood Education program
at my school. From my tenth grade to senior year of high school, I was an ECE teacher at The
Little Eagles Learning Nest. Though it was an elective class, it demanded the same if not more
attention as my core classes. I completed the program and earned my Early Childhood
Professional Certification, when my fellow student-teachers and I accepted our certificates, we
were filled with pleasure.
My first experience when I knew I wanted to be a teacher was my senior year in high
school. I was a student-teacher in our preschool called The Little Eagles Nest. Students were
put into a real classroom with the responsibilities of a teacher, we had to make lesson plans,
handle stressful situations and provide a learning environment that was hands on and
enjoyable. Throughout my entire life I have tried new sports and picked up different hobbies,
but teaching seemed to be the only thing that stuck with me. I was passionate and in love with
every aspect of it. My experiences with good and bad teachers gave me a guideline of the kind
of teacher I wanted to be. I wanted to be sweet like Mrs. Transki, involved like Mrs. Newton
and more creative and create a fun learning environment unlike Mr. Lymre.

Though I knew I was good at teaching and loved being around kids, I did not think I
should further my career in it, I knew that salary was not high and teaching full time was
stressful. When it came time to apply for colleges senior year, I applied to the University of
Central Florida for Hospitality Management. The main reason I wanted to work in the tourism
industry was because I am obsessed with Disney. But once I was accepted into UCF, and took
some classes over summer, I came to my senses. I changed my major to Elementary Education. I
know this is the right career for me to pursue because it is so easy for me to explain my love for
children and despite the little pay, the satisfaction teaching gives me outweighs the negative
aspects. Teaching is such an important role in society. Teachers are responsible the education
of the generations that will lead tomorrow.