Teaching

Danny DeVaul

The Journey

Essay #1

2-10-11

Teaching is the most important career path we can choose; without good teachers who would influence us? It would be a difficult journey for us in life. I have attended many schools throughout my career and have had numerous teachers, some successful and some unsuccessful at what they did. We all have good teachers in school, but there are always those few special teachers that can inspire you for the rest of your life. Mrs. Bradley, Mr. Wilkins, Chris Freeman are the three people who have influenced me the most. I consider myself among the few people lucky enough to have three very different people impact my life enough that I have chosen the journey of teaching and coaching as my career.

Mrs. Bradley, the greatest teacher to ever go through Mannington Middle School, has probably had the biggest overall impact on my career choice and life. In seventh and eighth Mrs. Bradley taught me more about ethics, morals, and history than any other teacher could. Mrs. Bradley is a strong believer that each of us has the potential to do great things and always did what was right in class for the students.

In eighth grade, January 2, 2006, the Sago Mine Disaster took place. Unlike regular eighth grade classes we watched the news all day in class. At the end of class she had us say a prayer for those families who lost loved ones. We began the journey of understanding compassion and kindness. Our class decided we would collect money for those families and we raised hundreds of dollars on our own the next week. I realize that it may be against the rules to pray in school but Mrs. Bradley had us do the right thing. We don’t have enough great teachers around that are teaching students to be faithful and do what’s right. I want to teach so I can carry over her legacy and teach her great morals and values onto kids.

My freshman year I was starting at a high school where I barely knew anyone at the school. I left my...