I’ve had the same experience, as former students have approached me excited to tell me that they have chosen to “be like me”, and teach. While I cringe at the toils that they will face, I encourage them. The only way we can hope to change the face of education is to encourage strong, determined, new blood to come into the profession and provide the energy that this change will take. Mentor them. They’ve chosen this profession likely because they had a teacher that meant something to them. If they can be that for someone else, it is worth it.

I spoke at a beginning teachers conference once and told them to keep a journal. Keep a record of the good things. Don’t record the bad. Yes, we could all write a book about the bad. But the good things, no matter how small, are what keep us going. When I was putting together a portfolio to use to apply for my current position, I asked former students to write me letters of reference. They were stunned at first, then eager to do that for me. You can’t imagine how I cried when I read those letters. I still go back to them at the end of a long and trying day to remind myself why I do this job.

Is education a mess right now? You bet it is. But perhaps change only can come from cleaning up a mess.