How My Mission Prepared Me for Teaching
- Student Ambassadors
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Mikaela Campbell
McKay Student Ambassador
Early Childhood Education
I came home from my mission in the Texas Lubbock Mission about a year ago. During my time serving, I developed so much spiritually, but gained a lot in other ways too. I went out of my comfort zone, faced obstacles, worked with others, and learned to grow from my experiences, and grew my own relationship with Jesus Christ. The things I learned on my mission have helped me today in my major as I prepare to be a teacher.
Here are 8 ways that my mission has prepared me for teaching!
1. Confidence. In the very beginning of my mission, I was so scared to talk to anyone; the thought of going up to people on the street and attempting to talk to them made me feel so nervous. There were many experiences on my mission, however, that helped me grow my confidence. One day, my companion and I were street contacting, and she pushed me to find someone to talk to as we were walking. I spotted a woman wearing a yellow shirt and decided to speak to her. I felt like I was fumbling over my own words, but we invited her to church, and she came. She kept coming, and we were able to teach her. I'm so glad that I was able to build a relationship with her by choosing to walk out of my comfort zone. As my mission progressed, I became more confident day by day, even in the midst of rejection. As a teacher, you need to be prepared to get in front of the room and teach your students with confidence. You must have assurance in their abilities and in your own. I'm glad my mission helped me grow mine.
2. Finding joy in the little things. I experienced joy and gratitude in the small, everyday moments and experiences. Whether that be enjoying the rain or having a powerful experience teaching someone, I learned that God gives us tender mercies every day. Just like on a mission as a teacher, there are going to be hard days, so it's important to look for joys and successes in the small things that happen every day.
3. Connecting with others. During my mission, I learned to connect with people from all different places, languages, and backgrounds. Everyone I talked to was in different situations and stages of life. I learned to connect with those who had the same beliefs, values, and morals as me, and many who thought or lived differently than I did. As a teacher, you need to know how to connect with diverse groups of people. This includes your students, parents, other teachers, your principal, and other professionals in education or part of the community, which I feel my mission has better prepared me for.
4. To love others and see things with an eternal perspective. By learning to see others' divine identity as children of God, I have felt greater love for them and have a more positive perspective on life. In knowing that I was working with children of God everyday I was more capable of loving them and seeing them that way. This is so important in a classroom as well. We need to see our students as children of God and understand that they have a divine destiny and that we have the opportunity to love them and be part of that. Those who taught on the mission could tell when we cared about what we were doing and when we cared about them. This same principle can apply to teaching; students will feel that they matter and that what they are learning matters when you show that to them.
5. Working with others. Similar to connecting with others, it's important to work with others. On a mission, you need to learn to work with your companion, the wards you serve in, other missionaries, and your mission leaders to teach and baptize children of God. As a teacher, you need to work with others too to help your students individually and as a whole. You need to be willing to lead and be willing to learn.
6. Serving the community. Your entire mission is dedicated to serving others and serving the Lord. I learned what it means to serve the community. From serving at food banks, senior centers, and donation stores to helping the ward or branch where I served, I was able to see people come together and help their community, and it felt good to be part of that. Serving the community is something you do as a teacher every day. You work hard to help students enjoy learning and succeed. You work with other educators and the community to support and advocate for children and education. There is great service that comes with the role of teacher.
7. Teaching in simple ways. As a missionary, you meet people from different faiths, languages, and backgrounds. This means you need to learn to adjust your lessons to people's needs and to teach in simple ways. You throw a lot of new information at those that you teach, you need to teach in a way that they understand and feel the spirit. As a teacher, you throw a lot of new information at your students; it's important that they understand the content and that they are engaged, so you need to know how to adapt and teach in simple ways.
8. Relying on Jesus Christ. I feel that this is the most important thing I learned on my mission. Every single day, I woke up not sure where the day would take me. I had to have full faith in Jesus Christ through the good and the hard times, through the planned and unplanned, and to allow the Holy Ghost to guide me. Relying on Jesus Christ was essential to my mission; his help and strength got me through day by day. Knowing this has helped me as I prepare to teach. I can rely on him during my time at school, and as I prepare to teach my own classroom one day. Through daily prayer, scripture study, and times when I was able to participate in the temple, I felt an extra amount of peace and assurance that could get me through the day. This same spiritual momentum is an unerring power that can provide ongoing support as a teacher as well, so I strive to continue to rely on Jesus Christ every single day.
In many ways, I feel that my mission has better prepared me to be a teacher. I was able to learn and experience these things while on my mission. But I still rely on these lessons today, and whether you have served a mission or not, you can too. There are so many ways to prepare yourself to be a teacher. Reflecting on my own experiences helped me to recognize what has prepared me. Take the time to think about how your own experiences have prepared you!
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT EDUCATION MAJORS?
Come meet with us! Schedule an appointment here. We would love to meet with you!
Comments