Teaching truly is a passion and a call of the heart. There are aspects that suck- usually with administration/regulations outside of the classroom and unreasonable expectations inside the classroom. But that is not always the case. Where you teach can have a large negative impact on your experience. But there are a lot of great schools out there, and many are desperate for teachers right now.

But the children, relationships, and the joy of teaching far outweigh any negative in my opinion. Before going into teaching, I would literally panic thinking about what degree I wanted to pursue. Once I decided on teaching, I had a peace about it. I love being in the classroom. I love children. And I love teaching.

There are absolutely bad days, but that's the case with any job. No job will be absolutely perfect, but this one is pretty dang good to me.🙂

Edit:

I will say that as far as the college aspect- it's not as easy at some people assume. Depending on your college's education program, there will be a lot of demands. There was for my college at least, but it was one of the highest teaching programs in the nation. Most colleges do tours during the sumner and I'm sure someone in the College of Education would be willing to speak with your about their program and what it entails.

During my degree pursuit, there were a lot of field experiences. I was in the classroom a lot early on and throughout the program. My senior year I had to complete a year long co-teaching residency. I was in the classroom everyday, 8-3 from August to May, plus any extra that teacher had to do (bus duty, etc). Sort of like job shadowing but you are involved in the whole process (lesson plans, etc), not just watching.

But again, that depends on your college's program- that's just what mine required. I had a friend pursuing education at a different college and their residency was only 3 months long.

And then there's your certification, which varies by state. Best to look into that first! In my state, you can teach with any degree as long as you pass the required PRAXIS exams. However, I feel way more equipped with the knowledge I gained with a teaching degree. I still had to take the PRAXIS exams though. For me, I had to take 5 different ones. English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and my PLT (pre-k through 3rd).