A new fish in the water

By Alysiana P

We all as people have our own life and hardships with side hobbies that make up pieces of our life. Even with work, not everyone can see into your full life, especially when working with others of a younger age, or generation. Things aren't always as what they seem; people with their own lives that aren't related to what you originally see them do, such as a new first year teacher.

Ms. Yee, a new teacher who teaches biology at Yerba Buena High School, is ecstatic with energy willing to be open-minded with students, helping them with whatever they need as a teacher but also as a friend.

As a new teacher there is a lot of stress and exploration on how to operate a classroom. Her passion for teaching is strong as well as her determination to become a teacher.

Before her passion for teaching came along she was originally on the career path to become a doctor. That was until she realized that she has no passion for medicine whatsoever.

Ms. Yee: “I always wanted to be a doctor and then it turns out I have no passion for medicine and I really don't find it interesting at all.”

Ms. Yee says teaching makes her happy and she has a strong passion for working with kids. This includes getting to school early to ensure that if students need something, she is there early to help with their needs.

The stereotypical standard for what students see in teachers is overrated typically, and it's not always true. Some fail to see that just as students have their own lives and struggles, teachers have the same.

No one's perfect and that can include what seems to be a put-together teacher who only grades, or that's what it seems for some.

Ms. Yee says her life is nowhere as put-together as she makes it seem.

Ms. Yee: “And I honestly don't do a great job of managing my schedule… There's just too much to do—you said you have grading, you have planning...”

Followed with extra lists and reasonings of things Ms. Yee has her time consumed by.

Regardless of being a teacher, she still has problems of her own. Some are smaller issues such as not being able to schedule her time well throughout the day. Missing breakfast can be one issue, as well as not wanting to get out of bed.

Some issues are a lot bigger than others, in the sense for Ms. Yee, it would be validation. She says a part of her family isn't too happy with her decision of becoming a teacher; they'd rather have her on the career path of the medical field.

Ms. Yee: “My family's not too keen on me teaching, especially considering, you know, I have a STEM degree…and master's degree at Stanford, they kinda think that I'm not wasting my life but not using my life in the best way possible.”

Balance is key for Ms. Yee. She says she has to balance the thought of their opinion of her career path and her passion for which they don't fully like.

She has worked hard through years of work to be able to fulfill her passion for teaching, her hard work paying off to be in her happy place: the classroom.

Ms. Yee: “Teaching is what makes me happy, like I have a good time being in a classroom.”

Her hard work in her journey into becoming a teacher has surely paid off. With four years of undergraduate school for her science education, along with her masters program, which took up to a year, that also counted as her teaching credential program.

Ms. Yee has worked hard for five and a half years to get where she is today, fulfilling her passion for teaching, being in the classroom where her happiness is.