I was living in Brighton, in the UK, when I realised that I wanted to be a teacher. I had spent an amazing year indulging my fascination with history, travelling to different parts of England, Scotland and France to soak up as much of the culture as I could while I was there. I soon realised that my love of history, and my tendency to share my passion with anyone who would listen, was pointing clearly to a career as a teacher.
I’m now in my third year of a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) focusing on English and history, and although I’m living back in Australia, I feel like my world has opened up even more. The course has led to many new experiences and opportunities for me, and I’ve discovered so many more fields that I am interested in, such as development and wellbeing, psychology and neuroscience. While studying here, I’ve travelled to India on the Reimagining India trip with CQUniversity as part of the New Colombo Program and spent more than two years working on an education research project as a Research Assistant. I also work with CQUniversity as a Student Experience Officer planning and running our Noosa Campus Life events, and as a Student Ambassador, where I get to share with students and parents my genuine love of CQUniversity!
The Secondary Education course has been fantastic, filled with exciting and enriching subjects, guided by incredibly experienced and supportive teachers. In just my first two years I spent eight weeks teaching in classrooms on practicum, and it was evident by the end of the first week that I had found my calling, vocation, the ‘thing’ that I was meant to do.
I loved connecting on a personal level with the high school students in class and on the playground, talking to them about everything from ancient religions to weekend plans, from World War II to the problem with domestic violence in Australia. I realised that these teens are smart, socially aware, and have an enormous impact on our future world. I also realised that as teachers we have a massive role in forming and shaping these teens to become creative, responsible, problem-solving leaders who can adapt to a rapidly changing world and use their vast array of skills to solve social issues.
What started as a way of sharing my love of history has quickly grown to a greater understanding of both the opportunity and responsibility I have as a future teacher. I now understand that I have a way to change the world, by encouraging and supporting the teenagers I work with to develop and grow into strong, mature, global citizens who feel empowered to change their world.
