The teacher interviewed has 7 years of experience teaching English and science online and locally in South Korea. She originally joined the military after high school and later became a teacher after completing her bachelor's and master's degrees. She finds teaching fulfilling when she can help students learn, but struggles with balancing work and family life as her husband is also in the military. While she prefers teaching in-person, she has found both young and old students can struggle to stay focused in online courses. Her advice for pursuing teaching is to ensure you have a true passion for helping students.

1. Interview with a
professional teacher
BY TINA GILSON

2. Educational setting
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Formal: University Teacher
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The teacher I interviewed was a online and local instructor at my location in
South Korea
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
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She teaches English and science for Troy University
She has been teaching for seven years
She was interviewed via phone due to a limited time to complete the
assignment and work schedule

3. Question 1
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What made you want to become a teacher?
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“When I was a little girl I wanted to become a lawyer, but as I grew up
I realized that I wanted to join the military. So at the age of 18 I
joined the Air Force. I came is as a services troop, and decided to get
my degree in education. I completed my bachelors and decided to
continue my education by pursuing my Masters. While I was working on
my Masters I separated from the military and decided to pursue a
career as a teacher. I knew that I did not have the patience to teach
children so I decided to go for teaching higher education.”

4. Question 2

What are the challenges you face in your job?
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“My main challenges are balancing my home life with my
work life. I have two young children that require my
attention and my husband is active duty Air Force. He is a
pilot so we move around quite a bit. We are constantly
moving around. With that the people that I am teaching
changes quite often with the way the military life is. I am
challenged with adjusting my style of teaching based on
where I am at and who my students are.”

5. Question 3
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What do you like the most about being a teacher?
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“I would have to say the fulfillment I get from taking
someone who knows so little about a topic and fill them
up with the information like a cup. I love helping people
and I feel by being a teacher that I am molding peoples
minds and helping them reach a goal they have in life.”

6. Question 4
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Looking at your past students, what was the most
challenging student that you have had to teach?
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“I had a lady who was 58 years hold, she was in my English
class. She struggled so much through the class, I had to
spend an extra two hours after each class helping her with
her assignments. She ended up being one of the strongest
writers by the end of the class but needed so much extra
effort to learn.”

7. Question 5
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Have you noticed a trend with the older students,
typically those over 40, having difficulty learning?
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“Not particularly that I can recall. I have had young and
old alike have similar learning problems. I mostly deal
with online classes so the main issue is staying focused
and not participating enough in the class. In fact, it
seems that the younger generation has more difficulty
with staying focused, and participating.”

8. Question 6
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What type of setting do you prefer, online or classroom?
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“I would say that I prefer, the classroom setting. I really
enjoy connecting with my students. You do not get the
same connection with the online setting that you get with
the face to face of the classroom.”

9. Question 7
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What advice do you have for someone like me that is
looking to pursue a career as a teacher?
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“To always remember who you are and remember why you
started. If you are becoming a teacher just as a job and
you do not have any real passion for it, look for another
career path. People so often become teachers and then
loose the passion for the job. It just hurts the students
and that is what we are here for.”

10. Summary
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After this interview, I feel like my thoughts and feelings about being a teacher
have been pretty spot on. I also think that this interview helped me clarify
some of the things I have been reading in the class. I believe that this
perspective is one of many and that there are so many others that would be
interesting to talk to. The part about the younger generation having more
difficulty staying focused in the online setting is a good observation and will
be part of what I will incorporate into my project.