Everybody grows up having a dream, proclaiming what they want to be when the
grow up. I was no different. I wanted to be a firefighter. I wanted to be a doctor.
Because it was the 1980s and 1990s, I wanted to go up in the space shuttle as an
astronaut. It seemed as if I changed my mind every other week. However, you
eventually get to high school and college and have to finalize what you want to focus
your energies on, and some people still struggle, changing their majors several times
before deciding.
I was lucky. I knew by my sophomore year in high school that I wanted to teach.
Maybe it was the great teachers that I had. Maybe it was my love of learning.
Maybe it was my love of being around kids (my mother ran a daycare in our house,
so there were always kids around). Whatever it was, I was set early on that education
was where I wanted to be.
grow up. I was no different. I wanted to be a firefighter. I wanted to be a doctor.
Because it was the 1980s and 1990s, I wanted to go up in the space shuttle as an
astronaut. It seemed as if I changed my mind every other week. However, you
eventually get to high school and college and have to finalize what you want to focus
your energies on, and some people still struggle, changing their majors several times
before deciding.
I was lucky. I knew by my sophomore year in high school that I wanted to teach.
Maybe it was the great teachers that I had. Maybe it was my love of learning.
Maybe it was my love of being around kids (my mother ran a daycare in our house,
so there were always kids around). Whatever it was, I was set early on that education
was where I wanted to be.
I was lucky. In college, I didn’t have to change my major several times. I changed it
once. I initially declared Secondary Education/Biology with a Chemistry minor.
But after one semester, I decided that I loved science, but not enough to want to
make a career of it. I decided I wanted to teach history. However, a very smart man
by the name of Dr. Nichols convinced me that a history major was a death sentence
in teaching and that social studies was a much better option. So, in the second half
of my freshman year, I declared Secondary Education/Social Studies with a minor in
Physical Education with a coaching emphasis.
once. I initially declared Secondary Education/Biology with a Chemistry minor.
But after one semester, I decided that I loved science, but not enough to want to
make a career of it. I decided I wanted to teach history. However, a very smart man
by the name of Dr. Nichols convinced me that a history major was a death sentence
in teaching and that social studies was a much better option. So, in the second half
of my freshman year, I declared Secondary Education/Social Studies with a minor in
Physical Education with a coaching emphasis.
I was lucky. After 5 years of hard work, I was able to get a job right away. I packed up
my belongings and moved 2,000 miles across the country from Michigan to Nevada.
I knew that I had made the right decision in my career---working with teenagers. They
can be tough at times, moody, defiant, but at the end of the day, they just want to live
life and be successful, and I was there to help make that happen.
my belongings and moved 2,000 miles across the country from Michigan to Nevada.
I knew that I had made the right decision in my career---working with teenagers. They
can be tough at times, moody, defiant, but at the end of the day, they just want to live
life and be successful, and I was there to help make that happen.
I continue to be lucky. I have worked in education for 13 years, and while there have
been trying times, and even times of thinking that maybe I don’t want to continue, I
always think about those that I have influenced over the years, the amazing educators
that I have worked with, and the new technology and teaching methods that come each
day. I don’t know what the next chapter of my journey is going to be, but that is the fun
of it. I get to write my own chapters and continue to do what I love and what I feel I was
made to do.
been trying times, and even times of thinking that maybe I don’t want to continue, I
always think about those that I have influenced over the years, the amazing educators
that I have worked with, and the new technology and teaching methods that come each
day. I don’t know what the next chapter of my journey is going to be, but that is the fun
of it. I get to write my own chapters and continue to do what I love and what I feel I was
made to do.
Kyle Anderson is a 13 year veteran of the teaching profession, teaching social studies for 11 years before stints as a technology coach, a school administrator, and a physical education teacher. Kyle has B. A. in Secondary Education/Social Studies, & a Master’s of Education, an Educational Specialist in School Leadership, and is currently working on a Master’s of Science in Special Education. Kyle is married to his wonderful and beautiful wife Mary and has a daughter, Elsa, and a son, Reed.
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