Planning for a successful career is what everyone wants to do and at the same time, one of the hardest things to accomplish (Goodlad 2004). What Glynda experienced during her practicum is one of the challenges that she can experience as a student. She stated that being a teacher is want she really wanted since childhood. However, what she experienced made her gave up her career. She got so depressed that she forgot to fight for her dreams.
Being depressed every time a person experiences a problem is just normal but giving up your dreams and doing nothing to stand up again is something that a person should not do especially if the person’s dreams are what the person had worked for several years. Working to achieve a career is really difficult because challenges are always there to hinder the person and that is what happened to Glynda. However, she became too negative that she did not even think of other alternatives and/or even weigh her situation first before dropping the course.
Glynda, as an aspiring teacher should be aware that the noisy students, uncooperative supervising teacher and strict parents are part of the package of being a teacher. She should consider that in order for her to experience the real thing and get used to it, she must experience it first and overcome the troubles that can come along with it. She must learn that those experiences are not merely problems but lectures that teach her to be more courageous, flexible and patient. She must learn how to deal with the problems and find creative ways to solve it. In that way, she will be able to lessen the stress and learn from it at the same time.
Lastly, Glynda should not isolate herself with her problems. She has to open herself because no one can live by living alone. Every thing that a person has should be shared to everyone, even the problems. Opening one’s self to other people like family and friends gives the person an opportunity to relax, lessen the pain and think of the solution that can be done to solve the problem. This attitude is what Glynda lacks for herself. She got so occupied with her problems that she forgot to share it with Abby. Even though she let Abby know about her situation, she refused to get along with her and by doing so, she rejected Abby’s help. What Abby said about losing more in the end is true for Glynda’s case. There is a high possibility that she will lose her dreams and her friends if she does not take effort to stand up and clean up the mess in her life. What she has to do at this point is to find the will to keep going so that she can think of concrete ways to make her life move forward.
Problem Resolution
As a means to help Glynda with her problems, a solution will be established to address each of her problems and use it to address the whole situation.
Open Up – Since Glynda has already dropped the course, there is no way that she can take it again except take it next year. For now, what Glynda has to do is to fix herself and establish a more positive outlook in life. To do that, she must open up herself to others especially to her family, friends or even to God to lessen the weight that is inside her. She must learn that isolation is not the solution. By explaining her situation and having others to listen, the effect will be a lighter feeling and a clearer mind that is needed for a more effective resolution (Goodlad 2004). Furthermore, by opening up to others, Glynda’s friends will know the situation and can give her advice on what to do.
Talk to Experts – Experts are the ones who give the best advice (Goodlad 2004). After opening up her situation to her closest friends and family, she must then talk to a psychologist or a school councilor to ask for some advice for her self and her career. From the analysis, her depression rooted from her confusion that is caused by being exposed to a difficult challenge that she did not manage to overcome. By talking to a psychologist, Glynda can assess her attitude and psychologist can advice her on how to establish a stronger personality capable of addressing hard problems and challenges. On the other hand, the school councilor can help her about her career preference. If she really wants to be a teacher, then the councilor can advice her on how to finish the career smoothly. However if she does not want to be a teacher anymore, the councilor can advice her about other courses that can fit her other interests.
Assessment of all the advice – After opening up and taking advices, what Glynda should do is to assess all the advices and choose the best that can help her achieve the best result. This is the time that she should ask herself: do I really want to be a teacher? Is it really my interest? or is there another career where I can fit myself and do better? The answers to these questions will only come from her. She should lend enough time to think of all these things to come up with a better decision.
Plan the future – Glynda should remember that most of the best decisions came from a good plan of action. After assessing her alternatives and coming up with a best decision, what she should do now is to establish a plan of how to implement her decision. A plan of action is necessary to guide her in her life and to avoid committing mistakes along the way. The plan should be flexible enough to address the unexpected problems that might come (Goodlad 2004). If Glynda chose to continue her career, then her plan should include: pick her self up, be motivated, continue taking her major and minor classes and put her full focus in it. In this way, she can be more prepared when she takes the practicum class again.
Teacher Consultation – the last thing that Glynda should remember is to always consult her teacher about everything that deals about her practicum. The reason why Glynda’s problem got worst is that she did not consulted her teacher about the matter. Glynda should keep in mind that practicum classes are established to show the students the real situation about the career. However, the teachers are there to serve as mentors whom the students can consult every time they have problems. Teachers are there to guide the students and advice them in order to pass the subject and pursue their career (Goodlad 2004). What Glynda has to do is to take the initiative and discuss any matters to her teacher to avoid further complications in the future.
References:
- Goodlad, J. et al. (2004). The Teaching Career. Teachers College Press.