1. Personal Statement on Becoming an Educator from Shelby L. Carbaugh
Crossroads and the span of a human life are numerous. Each one of us finds
ourselves at junctures along the way. And, we must always ask that fundamental
question… “Do I take the path of least resistance? Or, should I travel the bumpier path,
that which has more sacrifices along the way?” We all may find that a bit cliché, but all
the same that is our human condition. Teaching is to me that inevitable destination that I
have finally reached as I approach my personal crossroads. Why become an educator?
Who is a teacher? Why should I take that clichéd bumpier path at this juncture in my
life? If I break those simple questions down to their most basic level the answer I come
up with is that the happiest people I know are teachers, or educators in some capacity.
These individuals, like myself, have a basic need and drive to help others. They desire
that human connection that helping brings to all parties involved. The path down which I
have traveled and has led me to this place has made me realize a talent to connect with
people on perhaps a deeper level than most. The process of this realization has
awakened a natural way of connecting intuitively with teenagers. I have experienced this
both personally and professionally in how I have been able to relate as a mentor to those
young people in a corporate setting, the teenagers in my employee as a manager in a
previous career, and most intensely as a stepmother to four teenagers.
In further asking myself that question “Why be an educator in the formal sense of
the word?” I have drawn this conclusion. Those individuals in my thirty four years that
have been the most influential are not my corporate “heroes,” but rather those I have
encountered in an academic setting, specifically as a high school student. The way as an
adult I analyze or look at the world is because of these individuals. I feel they instilled in
me, or rather awakened in me a desire to know more, to strive to understand more, and to
question that to which I encounter. What a gift!! What a tremendous honor to these great
people to join in their ranks and bring that gift to the next generation. To be a part of
those crucial years where that seed is planted and foundation laid is where I want to be.
In merely recognizing it I become a part of it, we all do. This to me explains to a great
degree why those that teach share that sense of happiness that I have recognized, a greater
satisfaction than most are able to experience. I guess for me the question rather would be
“Why not teach?”
In summary my approachability coupled with an empathic nature I feel are
characteristics mandatory to fill this role. When you marry those with my passion and
drive to continuously learn and stretch you have the makings of a great teacher, the kind I
strive to be! Being in a culture and climate of young people and their youthful spirit and
minds can only be beneficial to us all. So, with all that being said I hope to finally
become a certified teacher and be a part of our educational system as it adapts to our
ever-changing society and fast paced lives, which affect both our students and we as
teachers.