Letter to the First-Years

Dear First-Years,

I have one question: why in the world are you here?Why did you choose to live in Nowheresville, MS away from your friends family and everything you've ever known. Why do you want to teach? What is your purpose?

Now, don't take that in the wrong way. I don't mean that you shouldn't be here, but if you don't know exactly why you're here, then chances are you won't last long.

This job is hard. No matter how good of a teacher you are, as a first-year you will struggle. There are so many areas in which you can fail, and you will undoubtedly succumb to at least one of them. To put it bluntly, the system is set-up for you to fail. You can be the best: perfect management, great content knowledge, great relationships with students, superb organizational skills...everything. The chances that you will have all of these things plus a great administration, great fellow teachers, great support system, great social life, great community are slim to non. You may already know this. Whether you heard it from Ben or one fo my fellow second-years, someone has probably told you that you will not be placed in ideal working conditions. If it was ideal to teach in Mississippi, MTC would be obsolete.

You must know why you are here. Because inevitably, you will have a day when nothing goes right, and this reason will be the only reason you wake yourself up to go to work the next morning. After your first semester, this reason may change completely. It may become more specific. It may expand. The evolution of you reason(s) for being here is natural, so long as you maintain some sense of purpose, otherwise you may lose yourself.

For many of you, your reason will ultimately be the children. Despite all the bullshit that you have to sift through on a day-to-day basis, the students will make this experience worthwhile. On a morning when you really just don't want to go to work, a student may bring you a flower, or write you a note, or draw you a picture, and you'll understand why you went to work that morning. Some kids will try to make your day a living hell, but there's always at least one who can brighten your entire week.

Therefore my advice to you is to really find your reason for being here. Everyday, search for something, whether within your school, or outside of it, that makes it worthwhile to be here, and at the end, no matter how much you struggle, the experience will not be in vain.

You will get through this.

Best of Luck,

Miss T