I am excited to be on this journey. I feel like I keep writing those words but it’s true. I have wanted to be a teacher since as far back as I remember.

I think the first time I learned education was different for different schools was in third grade.

My family moved and I switched schools. When I enrolled in the new school I learned they were working on material I did not know. I had no idea what was going on in the classroom and for someone who had always been at the top of the class, it was jarring.

I remember being very upset. I didn’t like it. It felt so stuffy and everything was so strict. I remember the school had so many bells. There were bells to line up, bells to line up (but this time you were tardy), and bells to let us know we should be in class. The building was large and enclosed. It seemed imposing and unfriendly.

I remember spending long hours glued to a desk and wishing I could sit next to a window. I remember doodling a lot in my notebook. I thought to myself that I did not actually need to be in school. No one had me chained to the desk. There were no locks on the doors. It was the realization that I did not like school.

I went home that evening and told my mom about my realization. I told her there was technically no way for her to force me to go to school if I really didn’t want to go – though this wasn’t said as anything more than conjecture. I would never challenge my mother. Ha! She said that she told me I had to go, and that was that.

I think I tried but I cried a lot.

My parents decided they would allow me to go back to my old school. My grandparents lived close by. My parents would drop me off in the morning and pick me up after work. Looking back, it must’ve been a lot of work for them.

When I transferred back, I realized the difference. The kids at my school didn’t sit. The teacher tried but the kids didn’t listen. We didn’t move forward in our lessons quickly because it took a lot of time for everyone to understand. We also had a lot more kids in the class. I was only 8 but there were some obvious differences.

The kids at the other school listened and did their work. We moved at a quick pace because the teacher didn’t have as many students and she didn’t have to continually stop in order to get all of our attention.

That difference made a huge impact on how I understood education and has led me to take note of the differences I see in education now. We have to address root problems instead of throwing money at education with no clear path of how to create thriving communities of children who want to learn.