CS
What is a Teacher and Where is the Classroom?
I used to think in order to change the world you had to be a teacher. When I began my grad school program, I felt lost. I had been living in New York City for seven years working as an Executive Assistant. I was good at my job. One of the best, in fact. However, I hated telling people my title. I would say, “I’m an Executive Assistant to the Global Chief Financial Officer, but I used to be a teacher.” I didn’t feel my job had a meaningful purpose. What I really wanted to do at the time was teach. I wanted to help students learn the skills to manage conflict, problem solve and become productive members of our society. I wanted to find ways to help all students learn and I knew technology was the way to do that. I finally took the step towards my goal of becoming a teacher and get my Masters of Education with a focus on Leadership and Technology.
While I was working towards my teaching goal, I was promoted into a role as a people manager, managing corporate real estate operations and site management and I loved it! I still got to problem solve and plan like teachers. I even got to mentor my direct reports, preparing them for promotions, which felt like teaching! I also tutored my colleagues in different technology programs and took on a leadership position with my team and colleagues. I found that every single class I took from grad school was useful and relevant to working with others. I realized that I can use the skills I learned in grad school to be a better manager and team player and member of this company that I love.
My goal used to be to help students learn to overcome differences and to accept others even though we may not always agree. I wanted to do this by encouraging, inspiring, mentoring, counseling, coaching and supporting students. This is my same goal today as a people manager, but now in a different setting. I may have had a goal to be a teacher with my own classroom when I started this program and felt that the only way to have an impact on the world was to teach students. Now, I see that students aren’t a certain age and classrooms don’t have to be in schools. We continue to learn throughout our lives and in many different settings. I can still have an impact on the world. As a bonus, I now work for a company that promotes volunteering in any way possible. I’ve helped at risk students with behavior problems build a garden in their adolescence home to help make the place feel happier and for them to learn how to grow their own food. I’ve mentored one of my star employees into not one but two promotions. I’ve helped my colleagues become Excel and financial experts. I’m not in a classroom with typical students, but I’m still teaching and inspiring!