Why would anyone want to become a teacher??

After finally figuring out what I want to do with my life (become a teacher) I've had a lot of positive and negative feedback. Some people tell me that it's the best job in the world and it's so rewarding. Other people tell me that I couldn't have picked a lousier occupation. With that said, I've decided to do some research.

Reasons to become a teacher.

Reasons to not become a teacher.

It seemed pretty cookie-cutter to me. Each site provides a list of reasons for each side of the debate. Let's look a little closer.

Pros:

This website listed many pro's that make me want to start teaching right now! Such things include making a difference in people's lives, many vacations, more time to spend with your family, children will make you happy, learn more about yourself. It seems like teaching is the best profession out there! Who wouldn't want extra free time in the summers and weekends, the opportunity to change lives, and the ability to learn more about yourself? It seems great, but is it too good to be true?

Cons:

This particular website gave five reasons why one may want to rethink becoming a teacher. It included no free time, low pay, and no respect. Now wait a second, didn't the first website say that I was going to have some extra free time? What happened to those lazy weekends and summers? It seems that you must create lesson plans and grade tests/quizzes/papers on your own time. The time you spend in school is spent with your students, not with your grade book. Also, anyone can tell you that teaching isn't the highest paid job out there. And you might run into a kid or two that doesn't have awesome manners.

So now what?

If one really has a passion for teaching, they will put aside the cons and admit that the pros are what's going to make them want to teach. In my case, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I understand that teaching is a full time job; you're working even when you're not physically in the school

And that's perfectly fine with me.

This is a picture of my high school history teacher, a friend, and I from my junior year of high school.