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Teaching vs Writing

I’m a rising Junior in college at a crossroads with my career. In my freshman year I decided to venture into the world of teaching secondary education, ideally middle school or high school mathematics, and I followed through by taking the appropriate classes building towards the requirements in each field. Entering college, I knew mathematics was my specialty, but teaching had not been a serious consideration until I found that the basic principles and calculus and algebra were where I mastered math and that applied fields in college were slightly more challenging. Teaching would provide a field in my major where the harder material is not necessarily crucial when the key is relaying information to youth.

However in my spare time I am an avid sports fan, writing for a number of online blogs including my own, and I hold a significant position at my college newspaper writing and editing sports. I have always considered writing to be a hobby and nothing more, but I have received encouragement from fellow writers and others that I should go into sports journalism because I have a talent for writing and understanding baseball, which has been my focus. To me, the two fields seem fairly far apart and I’m not sure where to go from here. I am lined up well to complete the mathematics and secondary education requirements at my school in my remaining two years, and could find myself teaching directly out of college while going for my Masters.

On the other hand I could instead attempt to switch my focus very late into my time at college and try journalism, where I have more experience (I’ve never taught at any level but have tutored from time to time). The problem with this is that I don’t feel as if writing is as secure a field, and directly out of college already in significant debt it would be nice to have a teaching position lined up. Of course if I’m not going into teaching then graduate school is out of the question as I try to find something in the world of sports journalism.

I guess the decision isn’t that hard because after writing this I envision myself going into teaching, and I suppose and can keep writing on the back burner to some extent. I don’t want two years of college to go to waste as I’ve built a foundation in mathematics and education, and at the same time venturing into journalism with only two years remaining is daunting. Any thoughts? Maybe my mind is made up but I’d like to hear the thoughts of anyone else out there who has faced decisions when it comes to pursuing a career or simply the fields of journalism and mathematics. Thanks very much.

This closed post was written 11 months, 3 weeks ago | V/U/S: 250, 4, 2 | Edit Post | Report Post

Secondary education, Sports journalism, mathematics, Journalism, Education, Position, Decision, college, writing, school (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

Zirbel 4 #
An Undisclosed Location | 11 months, 3 weeks ago (11 minutes after post)

I guess that you’ll find easier a job for teaching than for journalism. (B.t.w. The print journalism is on upheaval nowadays, and there are actually a lot of unemployed journalists on the market.)
An alternative could be to start with the solid teacher job and to work as sport journalist on the sideline. I know a lot of journalists who started their career that way. As soon as you will be admitted as a good sport journalist you’ll probably find an engagement on a medium.

I guess that you’ll find easier a job for teaching than for journalism. (B.t.w. The print journalism is on upheaval nowadays, and there are actually a lot of unemployed journalists on the market.) An alternative could be to start with the solid teacher job and to work as sport journalist on the sideline. I know a lot of journalists who started their career that way. As soon as you will be admitted as a good sport journalist you’ll probably find an engagement on a medium.

Anonymous #
11 months, 3 weeks ago (12 minutes after post)

I struggled a great deal making my decision about my career path — even though I always knew I would end up in teaching, there were so many other things that I was interested in and wanted to pursue. Ultimately, what made me fully embrace teaching was realizing just HOW many different talents, skills, and subjects are involved in teaching — science, pedagogy, psychology, guidance, art, drama, writing, film, parenting, communications, advertising — everything, really! I know I will never be bored, never stop learning, never stop meeting wonderful, interesting human beings, and will always have new things to explore.

Plus, if you get to a point in your planning and finances when you no longer need to lesson plan or work during the summers, you have a wonderful opportunity to pursue your other interests during the summer months. And of course, you could always teach journalism, help the students run the school newspaper, write a series on teaching, etc. Your opportunities are limitless!

I struggled a great deal making my decision about my career path -- even though I always knew I would end up in teaching, there were so many other things that I was interested in and wanted to pursue. Ultimately, what made me fully embrace teaching was realizing just HOW many different talents, skills, and subjects are involved in teaching -- science, pedagogy, psychology, guidance, art, drama, writing, film, parenting, communications, advertising -- everything, really! I know I will never be bored, never stop learning, never stop meeting wonderful, interesting human beings, and will always have new things to explore. Plus, if you get to a point in your planning and finances when you no longer need to lesson plan or work during the summers, you have a wonderful opportunity to pursue your other interests during the summer months. And of course, you could always teach journalism, help the students run the school newspaper, write a series on teaching, etc. Your opportunities are limitless!

mcbond00 0 #
An Unknown Location | 11 months, 3 weeks ago (2 hours, 38 minutes after post)

Thanks very much for the insight! I feel a lot better going forward, I’m looking forward to having a tremendous experience in teaching and hopefully I can keep up with the writing from time to time. Thanks again!

Thanks very much for the insight! I feel a lot better going forward, I'm looking forward to having a tremendous experience in teaching and hopefully I can keep up with the writing from time to time. Thanks again!

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