22 Years Later: A Career-Changer’s Path to Teaching

I’ll never forget my third-grade teacher. She was gruff and impatient — high expectations with no safety net.  There was so much focus on sitting up straight and sitting still. 

One day, I forgot to sharpen my pencil ahead of class, so I had to sit through the entire lesson with no way to take notes.  

I’ll also never forget my student teacher from that third-grade year. She was warm and encouraging, giving out homemade Christmas cards with hand-cut snowflakes. 

That was the year I decided I wanted to be a teacher myself.  

And what kind of teacher I wanted to be. 

A Long Journey to Teaching 

It would be another 22 years before I returned to school to earn my teaching license. 

My parents were both young when they got married and started a family, so finishing high school was not part of their immediate path. Although they did both go back and earn their high school diplomas as adults, no one in my family had ever gone to college. So even though I was 8 years old when I decided I wanted to be a teacher, I didn’t really believe I could do it.  

I got married and had my first child shortly after high school. My husband and I started a natural health business, and it was doing quite well. There was no time or need to think about a teaching career.  

But education was always close to my heart. I was heavily involved in my son’s school, signing up as a room mother, helping with fundraising, and volunteering for classroom activities. When he had trouble learning to read, I happily homeschooled him for a semester.  

Then, in 2009, despite a thriving business, a second child on the way, and no free time, I told my husband, “I think I’m going to go back and get my teaching degree.”  

Learning on the Job 

I think the timing was part of God’s plan, preparing me for the next chapter. I went back to school to earn my teaching certification, and then, about two months before I graduated, my husband got sick. He was unable to work for the remainder of his life, and he eventually went into hospice and passed away. 

I couldn’t run the business on my own, so we had to shut it down. 

There I was. One door closed, but another opened. I no longer had a business, but I did have a teaching degree to support my family. 

My first teaching job was as a paraprofessional in an elementary school. I graduated in September of 2013, after the school year started, so the paraprofessional job allowed me to work in a classroom while I finished up my degree and took my Praxis exams.  

I’m really glad it worked out that way. I learned more in that one year as a paraprofessional than in six years of college, earning my bachelor’s and master’s degrees. That’s part of the reason I love Moreland University. I didn’t go to Moreland — it didn’t exist at the time — and my education was largely theoretical. I wrote a lot of papers. When you go from writing a paper to standing in front of a classroom, it’s a bit of a shock.  

Moreland is much more practical, giving teachers the hands-on experience they need to be effective.

Pursuing My Calling 

There’s a lot of talk in education about knowing your “why” — why do you teach? Of all the jobs in the world, why this one?  

My “why” is to love and serve people by using the gifts and talents God has given me. That was my “why” as a paraprofessional, as an elementary school teacher for four years, and as a school administrator for nine years after that.  

It was my “why” even before I earned my teaching certification.  

I’ve worked in higher education for the past six years, but my motivation hasn’t changed. I see it as a ripple effect: Teach one person, and they teach others. On and on. Even when I’m not directly in the classroom, I’m still part of the ripple. 

I think back to my third-grade self, the one who decided she wanted to be a teacher but didn’t yet believe it was possible. She never could have imagined the career I have now. I think she’d be happy. 

---

Moreland University helps teachers earn professional certifications in as little as 9 months. Our TEACH-NOW Teacher Preparation Certificate Program is fully accredited and 100% online.  

Our no-cost application only takes about 15 minutes to complete, and you’ll hear back within 2 business days.