My Summer Job

Last summer I worked with kids. It was an after summer school program that lasted 6 weeks. It was my first time ever working with kids and I didn’t really know what to expect. In those 6 weeks, I realized that I definitely did not want to be a teacher. I respect teachers, but they are definitely underpaid and they are way more patient than I am.

When I went to university a few years ago, my goal was to become a history teacher. I love reading, learning, and talking about history and wanted to share my passion with others. I originally wanted to be a teacher for community college, but I would’ve needed a masters degree and my grades weren’t good enough for me to get that.

Not sure what I expected about working with kids, but I didn’t realize it was so hard. Kids can be unpredictable and there’s a fine line between being a pushover and way too strict. Summer time was a bit more fun because they had a little bit more freedom and it was less structured. I am glad i worked there because at least I found out teaching was not something for me and while I wouldn’t mind working with kids in the future, it wouldn’t be in a school setting.

After the 6 weeks were up, I had a few weeks off. I was going to continue working with the kids but at a different location. However, after only 3 days working there, I knew it wasn’t for me. The after school program was way too strict for me, I was assigned to the 5th graders when I had mentioned I would prefer younger students, and I was expected to teach them science. Im not an expert in science and I felt like I was expected to take my work home, which is something that wasn’t convenient for me since I am a single mom to a 4 year old. I was expected to do a lesson plan for the next 11 weeks. I had never done a lesson plan before this and had no idea how to do this. I only had 2 days and it had to be very detailed, including lessons I would teach and materials I would need. It was very hard to get any work done while taking care of my daughter.

I ended up quitting that job after only 3 days and was unemployed for about 2 months. I am now working in a job I enjoy and have been there almost 6 months.