Did San Dimas Teachers Want To Be Teachers?

Every child thinks about what they want to be when they grow up. There are so many careers to choose from that it gets overwhelming. Teachers are one of many people who didn’t always want to be who they are today. Everyone thinks that teachers knew they were going to be a teacher when they were younger, but that’s not true. Some teachers here at San Dimas are prime examples of people changing their minds about who they wanted to be when they grew up.

Mr. Coulter is one of many people who’ve changed their minds about their careers at a young age. Ever since he was young, Mr. Coulter wanted to be a professional basketball player and join the NBA, but he’s always had a love for language and literature. “I think I wanted to write. I thought it would be cool. Like, writing music and stuff. It was either musician or athlete, but I never thought about being a teacher.”

At the age of thirty, Mr. Coulter changed his mind about his career choice. He substituted for a bit to gain a bit of extra money while he transitioned out of a different profession. “I was looking for a different way to help people. I went back to professional basketball training while subbing for these kids because I thought sports was a better avenue, but I started liking the vibe of high school. These kids were responding to me and they felt comfortable around me and I got to know them. I started to realize that it takes more than just teaching the subject to these kids.”

Even though joining the NBA was Mr. Coulter’s first choice as a career, he doesn’t regret going into teaching. He wants to help the world out a little more through writing and teaching, but he also wants to help his fellow teachers become the best that they can be, and form relationships with their students.

Mrs. Luevand is another teacher here at San Dimas who didn’t always want to be a teacher. When she was younger she was interested in the law, hoping to join the Supreme Court Justice, but when she started studying chemistry in high school, she completely changed her mind. “When I was a chemist for the USGS as a science research aid, I found myself unhappy. I loved lab work, but I hated nonstop research without any social interaction. My dad said I should go into volunteer work to make myself happier, and that’s what I did. I volunteered for a program where I would take computers to kids after school and teach them how to program. I worked to volunteer. So after some time, I thought maybe this is what I should be doing.”

Mrs. Luevand loves what she does but even with the given chance to go back and pursue being the Supreme Court Justice, she refuses. “You said it yourself, You love your job, but once you find what you love to do it’s not a job anymore, it becomes a calling. A job is something that you do when you work and go home without investing yourself in something cool. You’re not invested in that. You do what you’re supposed to do and you leave. There’s nothing extra. You don’t want to do things for kids after school, but when does it become a vacation in your career? It changes everything.”

Sometimes we take our teachers for granted. Not putting in the effort to learn who they are outside of school besides a person who teaches us a certain subject and gives us a load amount of homework. We should cherish teachers more and the journey they took to become a teacher in the first place.