Those who can…

Why is it that nearly everyone who finds out that I’m

1. An English major
2. A substitute teacher
3. A private tutor

…assumes I want to teach for a living? On one level, I guess it makes sense – I’m a decent teacher, get along well with most students, and am in the early stages of one of the numerous career paths for would-be teachers everywhere. Based on that, I’m a candidate for full-time teacher status.

But I’m not a teacher at heart. I don’t want to be a teacher. I have no intention of teaching for a living. The personal interaction required to be a teacher is just not my bag. I’m in my element in a room with a computer, hammering away at a story, an article, a column, a letter. I’m in my element watching a movie with friends or hanging out and having pseudo-intellectual discussions of trivial or inane things (or intellectual discussions of pseudo-trivial things). I’m in my element explaining something to an interested person.

Classrooms, with their masses of students – many of whom would rather not be there at all, let alone learning the things their teachers are trying to impress upon them – run contrary to nearly every aspect of my personality (except the control-freak perfectionist side. But that’s a side I endeavour to keep under control, you know?).

I guess it frustrates me that people learn one or two things about me and think they therefore know my career path. It’s akin to people noticing I’m female and assuming they know my personality/aspirations/limitations based on that one fact. Humans are pattern-oriented creatures, so it’s only natural on one level, but it still aggravates me to no end.