Rosie, this introduction is for you!
My name is Molly and I am a 4th generation Home Economics teacher (or Family and Consumer Sciences- FACS).
I have proven it a fact that teaching is in my blood.
I love that I was a teacher back in the states. I sometimes wear it like a police badge. I’m proud that I have gone through college, got my degree, and began to teach. I’m even more proud in the fact that I am the 4th generation teacher. My mom taught Home Ec before she had my older brother, my grandma taught along with my great grandma. I’m doing something that my great grandma did! It’s crazy to really sit and think about. I have ties that go beyond blood, ties of passions.
To become a teacher, you need to be passionate about your students. They are the faces that you see every day! You need to be passionate about teaching them, even when they are jumping on your last nerve. Trust me, this happens more than just a few times.
You also have to be passionate about learning yourself. Education is still foundationally the same, but it’s constantly changing. You have to change with the times. Sometimes that means the night before. But without the passion of learning, change is counterproductive.
And the secret to teaching is finding those diamond moments. Teaching is a whole lot of frustrations, whole lot of extra work, whole lot of bad. But then you happen upon a diamond moment. A diamond in the rough. It could be a moment where students remembered your favorite candy and brought you some. Or when a student who struggles, finally catches on and starts thriving. And those are the moments teachers teach for. Trust me, it ain’t the money. Every teacher has those diamond moments, or diamond students, and that’s what motivates.
Or at least that’s what I see. I could be completely off base.
In my life, I have those diamond memories. But many times those are overshadowed by the bad rocky times. The many 13+ hour days at work, students who just don’t want to learn, parents (oh the parents), the endless questioning about my social life. In 3 years of teaching, I had let my job, my career, consume my life. I started teaching at 22, and was I a baby looking back now. I wasn’t living like any other 22 year old. I was living on my own, in the middle of Kansas (in a barn…. It was awesome!!!!) and I had a career. My Friday nights were spend at high school functions, and Saturdays were spent catching up on sleep I had missed during the school week. Or driving home to work at the hotel, my other job. And yet through it all, I didn’t know where my boundaries of work and home lay. Fast forward a couple years and I was wearing myself thin. I knew this wasn’t what God has in store for my whole life. (Hence why I am currently in Cambodia)
There had to be more to life than just teaching. My passions were skewed.
I needed time to figure out what there was, where God wanted me. Fast forward to the race. I have struggled with this thought, why am I a teacher? I shouldn’t be wearing myself this thin with only a few years into teaching. What else is there for me besides teaching all day every day. How can people do this for 30 years, and still have a life outside school? What am I doing wrong? How can I balance work and play?
First off I needed a break. Thankfully the Lord knew I wasn’t ready for any type of teaching in the beginning of the race. My heart was hardened towards it. I needed to miss teaching. I needed to mend my heart toward all those bad, rocky moments. I needed to find those diamond moments again. And the Lord helped me heal in those memories. He also kept me away from teaching until month 10. For a reason.
I found my passion for teaching again. I love standing in front of 30 preschoolers and see them respond to me. My heart melts when I have high school students say ‘Goodnight Teacher’. I miss making bulletin boards! People, I miss teaching! God brought me back! He has healed my heart and reminded me why He wants me in the classroom!
So I am Molly, Teacher Molly by my Cambodian students. Fourth generation Home Ec/FACS teacher. And my mission field is the schools and the young souls in the classrooms!
