Bachelor in Secondary Education for English - Ball State University (Winner)
Editors Note: This student story essay was selected as winner in BrainTrack's Teaching Schools Scholarship for Fall 2010. At the time of her submittal, Jennifer Minutillo was studying for a Bachelor's degree in Secondary English Education at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
Wishes Had Known | Program Likes/Dislikes | Choosing Teaching
What do you wish you had known about selecting and entering your teaching school that would be helpful to others going into teaching?
As a student in the Teachers College at Ball State University, the thing I wish I had known about the teaching program is how to navigate the curriculum requirements. Because the program is organized into different "decision points" that must be met and passed through before continuing on to other courses, it was difficult to understand, especially coming into the teaching major from a different major. To remedy this, though, I would suggest that students who do go into any teaching program take the time to sit down with a counselor or adviser to plan a schedule and ask any questions they have about what steps they need to take to get through the program successfully.
In a broader sense, I wish I had taken the time to look into issues facing secondary education so that I was more knowledgeable going into many of the classes that discuss these issues. Personally, I was sure that I wanted to be teaching at the high school level, but I have witnessed many students switch from secondary to elementary teaching or vice versa. I think having an understanding of the issues and even a little experience teaching those age groups — whether it’s at a day care, volunteer program, or church — will make you more marketable, as well as giving you the opportunity to see if you really are in the right field.
Lastly, I would suggest talking to former teachers about where they went to school, what they looked for and what opportunities they took advantage of before selecting their school. These teachers were the reason we chose to follow the same path, so it would be wise to seek their advice once again, because anybody can know their content area, but it takes a good foundation in the principles of teaching to be able to really communicate with your students effectively.
What have you enjoyed most and least during your teaching degree program so far?
Aside from realizing that teaching is definitely the best place for me and my future, the thing I’ve enjoyed most about my teaching degree program has to be the experience I’ve had getting up in front of classes and actually getting to practice teaching. Clearly, I had never actually studied teaching methods or curriculum planning before switching my major to teaching, so it has been an eye-opening experience getting to learn what made my favorite teachers from high school effective. I love getting to plan lessons and think of new and creative ways to present information. I think back to all of the things I loved doing in class in high school, so I’ve tried to incorporate those things into my own experiences teaching.
However, we know that the good doesn’t come without the bad. The thing I’ve enjoyed the least about my teaching degree program is simply learning about all the challenges facing teachers today. Whether it’s budget cuts, standardized testing pressures, underfunded schools, or an unsupportive administrative staff, schools are constantly facing adversity during a time where performance matters most. It’s a bit discouraging to know how hard and long teachers work for what seems like such little pay and compensation, particularly those teachers who choose to go to the "worst" schools. I think what this really shows, though, is how much dedication and passion teachers must have for their careers because most people look at money as a primary deciding factor in a career. Yet, we know that it takes a special person to commit to being responsible for the education and futures of millions of students.
What led you to choose teaching as a career path?
Making the decision to become a teacher was ironically one of the easiest, yet hardest, decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve always excelled in the English and language arts areas of school, even taking college-prep English courses in high school. However, my passion for journalism seemed to outweigh my focus on English once I got to college. I was heavily involved in high school journalism, working for our student newspaper and eventually becoming the editor-in-chief. My teacher/adviser for my journalism courses was a huge influence in my decision to pursue journalism. He always pushed me harder than most other students because he knew how much focus and drive I had. Thus, I chose to major in journalism graphics in college, and I fully intended to work for any form of the news media I could get into.
As a freshman I started working for our college newspaper, taking every journalism course I could get into. As a sophomore, I was lucky enough to get offered a professional internship at the local newspaper. I worked there for seven months, but about half-way through I was starting to doubt my passion for the field. I was good at what I did, but I wasn’t sure if my heart was one hundred percent in it anymore. However, I continued on my path, and by the summer of 2009 I was working another internship, at a bigger newspaper, with more pressure to do well. After the first six weeks or so, though, I felt the same feeling I had at my first internship. I never knew what people meant when they said “It’s just a job, not a career” until that moment. I wasn’t excited about getting up and going to work. It was just something I did because I was trying to follow in the footsteps of all the other successful journalists I went to school with. Moreover, I spent a lot of time during that summer considering what I liked about high school as I was considering the schedule I had to pick for the fall semester. The thing I realized I missed most about my time in high school was how challenged I felt in my English classes. I missed having to write daily, discussing books and analyzing grammar. I missed the teachers who made me think I could do or be anything I wanted to be, even if it wasn’t related to English. I missed being able to help my classmates learn something when I might have understood something before them. Most of all, I missed that human interaction that lacked in the very individualized profession of journalism.
The decision to switch my major to education weighed heavily on me. I spent more than a week discussing this potential change with my parents, close friends, and, of course, my former journalism adviser from high school. In addition to journalism, he taught English, so he was the ideal source for support, and I trusted his opinion more than anyone else’s. He reminded me of how much fun I had coming back after graduating when I would help teach his high school journalism students, and he had full confidence in my ability to be a good teacher if I really chose to pursue it. Most importantly, he made me realize that there was no reason to give up my love for journalism completely. I still loved journalism, I just realized that it wasn’t a field I could work in forever. Education, though, seemed to be the perfect combination of the things I missed from my past as well as the skills and knowledge I already gained in college. Ultimately, I’ve always wanted to do something where I can truly make a difference, and if I could make as big a difference to one student as my former journalism adviser made to me, then it would be worth giving up a potential career as a journalist. I do believe that every student can become his or her best if a teacher has faith and support in them, and this was evident in my own decision to pursue teaching as a career.