From corporation to classroom

How one woman finally found her fulfilling career - teaching!

I am a teacher! That may not be a big deal to you, but to me it's the fruition of a lifetime goal--a goal I only recently realized. To me it means that I finally have the opportunity to touch and directly affect lives every day that I go to work, because I work in a classroom.

I took a very roundabout route to get to this point. Growing up in a family that shares the common societal view that teaching is not a high-prestige profession, I chose to pursue a career in law. I then went on to other jobs in the corporate world--the last one as the manager of a personnel department in a large company. I was the only female corporate officer in this company. My day was filled with meetings, memos, and phone calls. I was on the fast track. I was a mover and a shaker--complete with power breakfasts, good benefits, and a company car. But all the while, a little voice inside my head kept repeating: "This is not for you." It was time to reevaluate, and after much soul-searching I realized that teaching--being able to touch, mold, and educate the youth of our society--was exactly what would make me feel fulfilled.

I quit my job and went back to school. Throughout classes and student teaching I was the ultimate idealist. I was giving up a promising career in corporate America to pursue this newfound goal, and there was never a doubt in my mind that I'd made the right decision.

Then reality struck. I started my first year of teaching this past September. I am a bilingual teacher--teaching math and reading to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. My initial enthusiasm was shattered the first day. To my dismay, I found that not all the youth of our society wants to be touched by my infinite wisdom. I also found that my training had not been entirely complete--there were no manuals to tell me exactly how to do what I needed to do. I struggled with questions like: Where should I begin? How do I deal with kids who won't listen? What if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of a lesson? And then bigger questions like: Did I make a mistake? Is this really better than the corporate world I left behind? I was disenchanted, but still determined.

Then one particularly tough day, I climbed the three flights of stairs to my classroom (Why aren't there elevators in school, anyway?) and plopped down at my desk. It was piled high with basals, various teacher's editions, rulers, manipulatives, and sundry other tools of the trade. But hidden behind one dismal pile was a peach wrapped in a napkin, with a note attached--Missis Dorward: You are the best teacher. I love you. Love, Patricia.

So the little voice inside my head was right after all.

CHERYL DORWARD is a bilingual educator who teaches at LaMonte School in Bound Brook, New Jersey.

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