Being a student at Park High School, I was curious about the viewpoint of a teacher.  Having my mom as a teacher in Elementary school, it put my experience into a different perspective. Realizing how many hours she spends outside of school grading papers, and all of the above, it shocked me. Witnessing it firsthand, I gathered that teachers spend a tremendous amount of time doing school-related activities in and even outside of school. After this, I decided I wanted to dive deeper into what being a teacher looks like, and why people enjoy it. Though I had gained some interpretation from my mom, I wanted to dive deeper.

Students today might think that being a teacher is an uneventful career path. Using knowledge from business teacher Reid Lende, your thoughts may change. Every job has its ups and downs, but there are many perks in being a teacher that you may be surprised by. Lende was inspired to be a teacher because while he was going to college in Wyoming playing golf, he wanted to know a career that he could do that would allow him time off in the summer to play/practice golf a lot.

At this time, he was still thinking of being a professional golfer. He thought of being a teacher because it allowed him to have summers off, meaning he would have time to practice golf. It was a fitting job for him that allowed him reasonable hours in the job, as well as some free time too. Coaching was also in the back of his mind, and being a teacher would allow him that opportunity.

As Lende began to student teach in his early years, that is really when he realized that being a teacher was the right fit for him. “I could see a greater impact on a day-to-day basis than any job I’d ever had before,” says Lende. He taught elementary kids as well as middle schoolers, but he liked the thought of high schoolers because everybody is closer to adulthood, with a more mature personality. “You have more of a direct impact on what happens to them after they leave high school.” He also said, “At the end of the day, I just want to help people be better versions of themselves,” says Lende.

As nice as it may sound that teaching is nothing but fun, there are some hard obstacles along the way. COVID being one of the hardest parts of Lende’s career, forced him to teach virtually. He could no longer feel that connection with his students which made it very difficult for him. “The stretch where everybody was masked up, it wasn’t the same communicating,” said Lende.  After visiting with Mr. Lende, and having personal experience, it put it into perspective of what it is like to be a teacher.