Why I want to teach

     In class today we discussed why we want to teach, and it caused me to really examine my own motivations in teaching.  If I were to be perfectly honest, I think that I do like teaching others, but that I definitely don't teach for the same altruistic reasons that most of my peers seem to posess.  My mom says that ever since I was young, I have been an extremely competitive person.  I played the flute throughought middle and high school, and originally, my mom says, it was nearly impossible to tear me away from the instrument.  I remember having friends over to play and polishing my flute as I talked to them.  However, as soon as I reached a level of playing where I felt that I had accomplished what I set out to learn, practicing became a chore.  I've noticed that I tend to come alive when faced with challenges, but once an activity ceases to become challenging, I often lose interest.  For me, I think this is a cause for concern.  If my satisfaction comes from conquering new challenges and not from the children themselves, how will I remain interested once I find a method and system that renders teaching simple? 
     Now that I examine myself, I believe that is why I was drawn to teaching the subjects I currently plan to teach.  English and physics are subjects which consistently pose great challenges; you cannot learn passively in them and expect to excel.  So, while my current desire to teach is definitely motivated by passion for my subject areas, I find myself wondering if this passion will last, or if I will even want to teach after a few years in the field.
     My Education Field Experience professor recently gave us an assignment where we were asked to come up with a metaphor to decribe our current perception of what teaching will be like.  At this time in my life, I think I perceive teaching as setting out onto the open sea on a sailboat.  You never know what each individual day will hold, yet you know on whole, you can expect many to be calm, peaceful days where the sun reflects serenely onto the wide expanse of water and the wind gently pushes you forwards into the unknown.  Beautiful days where life is a joy and teaching is a pleasure.  Yet, you can also expect days, even weeks, where the sea tosses you savagely and storms batter you from above, days when teaching seems impossible, thankless or stressful.  Yet, the sailboat is able to survive by firmly anchoring itself in the waters.  For me, I think the current caution in my life is to choose my anchors, my sources of stability in hard times, carefully.  If I choose to rely on the joy I obtain from conquering challenges, I know it will eventually abandon me, leaving me at the mercy of the rigours of my chosen line of work.  So, while this desire to be challenged is healthy in its own respect, I will focus on making my family and my faith the center of my life, because they have proven far more reliable sources of sustenance.
      -Rachel