Lately, as I’ve been considering the next steps for my career, I’ve been reflecting a lot on what exactly it is I want to do and why. If you didn’t already know, I work as a middle school English and History teacher and if you told  me a couple of years ago while I was still going though the job hunt process that I’d end up as a teacher, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Yet life, and God,  has a way of making sure everything falls into its perfectly assigned place. For anyone who is considering a career switch or currently going though the post grad job search, I’m sharing some of the reasons why I decided to go into public service work post-grad. 

I Knew I Couldn’t Do A Desk Job 

I learned many lessons from my summer internship experiences, which is good because that’s the whole point of them. The main takeaway for me was clear: I don’t like desk jobs. Over the course of my four years, I worked at Prep for Prep, The Civil Rights Bureau of the the New York Attorney General’s Office, and the National Headquarters of the NAACP. While my experience as a summer counselor at Prep for Prep consisted of a lot of talking, walking around, and interacting with others, my time at the NAACP and AG’s office saw me at a desk all day.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, especially because I felt like the work was just as purposeful at the NAACP as it was at Prep for Prep. However, I truly wanted to avoid sitting at a cubicle or desk as much as possible. In most cases, you’re probably not going to have a non desk job until much later on in your career. Teaching was one of the few options of entry level work that met this criteria. Keep in mind I had worked with middle school aged children before at Prep for Prep, so teaching also wasn’t a totally new experience for me. 

I Didn’t Have Any Corporate Interests

At Harvard, there’s an exceptional amount of pressure to go corporate. The jobs are selective and high paying (though no one really mentions how many hours you have to work to earn the salary, but I digress). Senior year I truly was considering at least attending a couple of recruiting events for some top consulting firms. My reason: everyone else was doing it. I vividly remember putting on my go to networking dress, sliding on my heels, and thinking to myself, “I truly don’t even want to do this”.

The fact of the matter is, I knew myself and even if I didn’t, my work experience spoke for itself.

I saw some of my friends putting time and energy into case prep and understanding financial trends, and I didn’t even have the mental energy to even care about dealing with that. Even though I’d end up being the only person in my immediate friend group to go into teaching, the fact of the matter is, I knew myself and even if I didn’t, my work experience spoke for itself. If any interviewers were to ask me “why corporate? Why after four years of public service is this the right switch?”, my honest answer would be “well, it’s not”. 

I Have An Accepting, Understanding Mom

Let’s be honest. For many people of color, it’s an accomplishment to even consider going to college, much less gain acceptance and graduate. When you do graduate, there can be a lot of pressure placed on you by family to earn the most prestigious, fancy, highest paying job out there. Teaching, or public service work in general, doesn’t make the cut for best post grad job.

We all know that family member who brags about you going to Harvard (or insert another elite school here), but do they keep that same energy when you decide to go into teaching, the military, or non profit work? 

Luckily for me, I faced no pressure or judgement whatsoever from my mom regarding whatever line of work I went into after graduation. I’m shouting her out because Nigerian, African, and Caribbean immigrants (and immigrants in general at that) have rigid standards for their children’s careers. We all know that family member who brags about your going to Harvard (or insert another elite school here), but do they keep that same energy when you decide to go into teaching, the military, or non profit work? I’m not saying that every single minority goes into corporate work because of familial pressure, I’m just saying the pressure is real. With an understanding mom who also placed no financial burdens on me, I knew I could take on whatever job opportunity I genuinely wanted to. 

There Aren’t Enough Teachers of Color

Here’s where I hit you with some facts. In New York City’s Public Schools, which educate 1.1 million students, almost 83 percent of students are Asian, Black, or Latino. The figure is only 39 percent for teachers. The number of black teachers I had while I was in the New York Public School system was simply not high enough. I know how much it means as a student to see yourself reflected not only in the curriculum but in the teachers themselves. Considering this, teaching was a no brainer for me. 

It Was Meant To Be

Alright, I’ll try my hardest not to turn this into a sappy cliche rant about purpose and walking in your assigned path, but there is much to be said about that regardless. Here’s a quick recap of my recruiting experience: I applied to law firms and essentially wasn’t hearing back from any of them. Oddly enough, a number of teaching programs and schools contacted me about job opportunities. I say this is odd because I never once indicated through any senior surveys or resume drops that I was interested in education opportunities. I ignored essentially all of them because I was so focused on securing a position as a paralegal. Ultimately when the months went by and I still had no prospects, I gave in and interviewed for one school. It happens to be the school I ended up teaching at.

The story could end there but it doesn’t. Months after I had already signed my contract and the week of graduation, I received an exploding offer from one of the law firms I interviewed at months prior. A legal aid would unexpectedly be leaving the firm and it turns out they wanted to offer me the position. It was a tough decision. Part of me wanted to fall for the image that may have come along with working at big entertainment law firm, never mind the fact that I wasn’t even into entertainment law. Another part of me realized that throughout my life, almost any time I’ve been at a crossroad, there’s a last minute alternate option, sort of like a deviating force, meant to derail me and my destiny. That’s some heavy stuff, I know, and I’ll probably tell you more about this in the future but for now, just know that my path to teaching went beyond simply my own interests and passions. I believe it was a part of my destiny. 

Final Thoughts 

Whew. This post definitely ended up being much longer than I thought it would be but I’m glad I got to share with you some of the reasons I decided to go into public service work post grad. Hopefully in the coming months I’ll be able to share some exciting updates on my career path but in the mean time please keep me in prayer as I try to figure out next steps. I hope this encouraged those of you who are considering entering or making the switch to public service work. The work is hard but it certainly worthwhile. 

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” Colossians 3:23

#EniGivenSunday