Why I want to be a teacher

When thinking of how to explain why I want to be a teacher, I find it hard to not come across as cliché. I think we all become teachers for two main reasons, to help people and make a difference. I want to teach because I not only want to improve the education and lives of my students, but by in turn, have my education and life improved by them. Teaching is a reciprocal art, the more you give, the more you get in return.
One of the most important things a child can learn from a teacher is kindness. Children of all economic backgrounds can suffer from not enough kindness in their lives; whether their parents work too much, do not value them as individuals, or simply do not care the way a parent should. These children come to school looking for someone who will show them caring and respect. That is the most important thing a teacher can ever do, be a source of kindness. I firmly believe that making a child feel loved and safe is paramount to all learning objectives. Only in that kind of positive, secure environment, can a child truly begin to learn. As a teacher, I take on the charge of being a source of strength to a child, until they can discover their own voice.
Learning is life long, it begins but never ends. As a teacher it is our job to provide the foundation that a child can take into life and build upon. Being at the ground level of such a long and magnificent journey is not only personally gratifying, but includes the child in our own personal journey, started years ago, by teachers who taught us. Often when good people become parents it is because they want to pass on the things taught to them by their parents. I believe I want to be a teacher because I want to pass on the things taught to me and perhaps someday I will inspire my students to do the same. In the same way having children ensures the survival of a human race, teaching ensures the survival of an intelligent one.
As a male, I believe I have a very special part to play in the education of young people. All too often, throughout primary school, children are taught by women. These amazing women provide a calm and caring enviroment that is often thought to be motherly instinct. I believe young people HAVE to see that males can also be calm and caring, that they are not virtues only held by women. In today's society, children often see males as the aggressors. Video games are increasingly violent and characters are predominantly males. Television is filled with stories of males being arrested, starting wars, playing violent sports and disrespecting women. I believe good fathers and male teachers are the only defense against children (especially males) mimicking the violent and aggressive behavior they see in the many of the males in our culture.
I want to be a teacher in order to make the world a better place, one child at a time. I believe that if you only make one more person better then you made worse, then you've made a positive contribution to the world. As teachers, we have the ability to tip the scales in our favor considerably more than the average person. Isn't that what it's all about in the end, leaving the world a better place? As a teacher I can positively impact people that, in turn, can influence thousands more. That is why I want to be a teacher, because with those odds, the math is on my side.