Happiness

Happiness

Happiness. Everyone wants it, but how exactly does one obtain happiness and what do I need to do in order to be happy? According to the “The Sources of Happiness,” “happiness is determined more by one’s state of mind than by external events”(The Dalai Lama 22) meaning that, it’s the way you view situations that determine how happy one truly is. So, now the real question, what do I need to do in order to be happy? Well, my ultimate goal in order to be happy is to be an elementary teacher in the valley and have a countryside house with a family of my own. However, before any of this could happen I need to know any possible obstacles that could get in the way of reaching my goal. The first obstacle I would need to overcome is completing my education. Then, I would need to find a job to get the money I need to buy a house on the countryside and be financially stable. And finally, starting a family of my own and travel. In the midst of all this, I would like to get back into going to mass.

For my education, first I would need to do me general ed and get my A.S. in liberal studies which is going to take about 3 years and then another 4 years to get my bachelor’s degree in elementary education, which is the minimum requirement. The questions I get the most when I tell people I want to be an elementary teacher is , why a teacher? Why not a profession that makes more money? My answer to them is always, “I love kids and I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of people and what better way to do that than becoming a teacher? For me it’s not about the money, it’s about being able to educate the next generation.” In the article “Why Do They Teach? A Comparison of Elementary, High School, and College Teachers” by Susan Hemphill Marston, teachers with 15 years or more of experience took a survey in which they rated many aspects of their profession by numbering each, 1-4. Where 1 was of no importance, 2 was of little importance, 3 was somewhat important and 4 was very important. In the survey, the elementary teachers rated “satisfaction in working with students” as 3.77, which is close to very important (Marston 440). This study shows that teachers go into this profession for almost all the same reasons. In the same survey, elementary teachers rated “satisfaction in serving society (e.g.. ‘making a difference’ by educating future citizens)” as a 3.61, also important. The satisfaction factor rated highest by elementary teachers was “satisfaction at seeing young people learn and grow” which was rated at 3.85 (Marston 440). Most people that choose to be teachers are in it for the same reason as this second grade teacher.. “‘What had kept me in are the children. I find so many rewards out of working with them and feeling that I can make a difference (Califomia, second-grade teacher)” (Marston 441). At the end of this article it’s discovered that “[a]ll three levels of teachers clearly saw the students as the sine qua non for remaining in teaching” (Marston 442) which is my reason for wanting to teach.

However, teaching young children as women, according to “Teachers as Mothers in the Elementary Classroom: Negotiating the Needs of Self and Other.” makes us(women) act motherly. “Women teachers (and mothers) are further rewarded by the increased sense of attachment that develops from engaging in caring relationships” (James 522-523). James argues that “they often invoked the image of ‘mother’ in describing the needs of their students and their responsibilities as teachers” (James 532). She thinks teachers need to determine how to care and how much. James gives examples or female teachers that in a way didn’t look after themselves as much as they did for their students. She gives the example of Mary. Mary had a broken leg and “was dealing with the loss of a good friend” one year and the principal and the school counselor had to pull her aside and had demand her to take time off to care for herself (James 529). Mary was too focused on her students and their education to care for herself. This would most likely be a problem I would run into, but after reading this article I know that when I do become a teacher I’m going to need to know how to care for my own well-being as for my students.

On my path to becoming an elementary teacher, I’m going to be encountering a lot of stress. Like many college students, I’m going to need to find a way to get relief from that stress. One way that I would be able to do that is to be active or get in shape. In “Health or Happiness? What Is the Impact of Physical Activity on the Individual?” it is concluded that physical activity has a positive effect on the health and well-being of an individual. Simona Rasciute and Paul Downward, in their article, discover that “the walking variable is included in both the wellbeing