Many of us are familiar with student teachers, who on certain days will watch and observe our classroom settings, even occasionally teaching a lesson or two. They have become, to an extent, a normalized part of CHS. But despite their frequent appearances in class, how much do we know about the journey that brought them here?
University of Michigan student Alexander Kochan, one of Chelsea High School’s current student teachers and an aspiring language and philosophy teacher, shares his story of the journey he took to get where he is.
“When I started college, I really didn’t like high school,” Kochan said. “But when I got to college and started taking language classes, some of the professors I had were just so enthusiastic about teaching their language and teaching in general that their enthusiasm rubbed off.”
As a result of his role model teachers, Kochan began pursuing a teaching degree at Eastern Michigan University, then proceeded to begin the student teacher program at the University of Michigan. However, despite his enthusiasm and drive for teaching, Kochan still experiences the difficulties of pursuing such a tough career path.
“It’s a little stressful,” Kochan said. “You’re in a weird space where you’re a student and a teacher at the same time, but it’s really cool to be able to see both sides of the coin. However, you have a lot of homework to do and, on top of that, a lot of teaching to do. It’s definitely doubling the workload, but it’s really gratifying overall.”
Like Kochan, there are many of us aspiring to be teachers upon graduating high school. He shares some insightful advice for those who want to follow the same path.
“Don’t do it if you don’t care about teaching,” Kochan said. “Don’t get me wrong, it can be really stressful and overwhelming at times. So if you don’t genuinely care about the work that you’re doing, it’s going to break you.”