“Never Say Never”

I grew up as an only child of a teenage mother in the “projects” of Bennettsville, SC. Education was never in the forefront until I began making good grades. I had teachers, every year tell me how bright I was until I finally started to believe in myself. As I became more self-motivated, my mom began to expect me to do well and I did not want to disappoint her. Because of my determination to succeed, education became just as important as playing a winning game of Spades.

After I realized I was not going to be a Solid Gold dancer, I decided to work towards becoming a lawyer. Since I loved to argue (many spankings came from this ability) and talking in front of people was never an issue, law seemed like the obvious career choice. However, my litigation dreams came to an end when I became a sports fanatic. I knew I did not want to take a lot of science class and chose to focus on Sport Psychology.

I went to Clemson University my freshman year as a Psychology major but did not fare well to say the least. Needless to say, I changed my major to Spanish. After I transferred to the University of South Carolina, I added Psychology on as a second major and finally graduated. Then came the sad truth, you can’t do much with a Psychology undergraduate degree. With my Spanish major, I found out that I had enough education to teach.

Like so many that seek alternative licensure, I never thought I would become a teacher. As a young girl, I remember playing school with my dolls and using my door as a chalkboard. I would teach just about anything from Spanish to Psychology. Though it seemed that I was passionate about teaching, I distinctly remember saying over and over again that I would NEVER teach. It seems that my destiny was laid far before I set out and as everyone knows “Never Say Never.”

Being that I was an assistant in preschool classrooms for three years prior, I had gained experience and knowledge about how to run a classroom and how to interact with children. My dedication and hard work proved to be my best assets along with my never-ending drive to learn. Because of this, I decided to give teaching a shot and my teaching career began.

Funny thing happened a year after I had been teaching high school Spanish, I ran into that same teacher, to whom I said I would never teach. She asked, “What are you doing now?” I replied, “I am teaching high school Spanish.” She smiled at me and as she walked out the door, she turned to me and said, “Never say never.”

Though I have run into several challenges during my teaching career, I have learned one thing: I was meant to be in education. I even tried to fool myself into thinking that I was still going to be a Sport Psychologist by enrolling into Capella University as a Sport Psychology learner. However, yet again, fate had a different plan for me and I am still in the classroom and still striving to become a better teacher each day.

I tell my students all the time: “I will never stop teaching you because you don’t want to learn. I will never stop caring because you don’t care. I will never expect less than your best just because you don’t want to try. I will never stop being a teacher because I have tried and realized that I need you as much as you need me.”

And these are just the few instances when someone will hear me say “never.”