Second Grade Teacher- Katy Bracken

Why does Bracken say that she was "redeemed by teaching?" What do you think she means by this statement? What does she love the most about being a second-grade teacher and what has she learned from being a teacher?

Katy Bracken opens up her story by describing herself as "one of those people who was pretty much totally unable to decide what they wanted to do with themselves" (Bracken 42). She was a dancer/actress/writer who moved to Chicago just to be in the city, not actually following an ambition. However, after a short time, she realized that she needed to do something with her life. She got a teaching job, just as an assistant, but it was the start to a part of her life she never expected. This was the start of her redemption.

Katy found this hidden love for teaching, and after a librarian job and a few assistant positions, she landed herself a full time teaching position. Katy explained that "things got very weird because I wanted to do the job- it was totally my ambition by that point- but I was terrified" (Bracken 43). It is a good thing to be terrified about things like that though, because if you are terrified, it means you care, and you want to do the best job you can.

She had been redeemed by teaching. She found an ambition for something, and it had changed her entire outlook on life and the impact that she wanted to make on the world. Instead of being a dancer/actresses/writer, she changed the lives of hundreds of kids, and she had hundreds of kids change her life too.

She loves the love and affection that comes with teaching second graders. She explains that the kind of love that is expressed with second graders doesn't occur in the adult world, and she is right. They have this way of expressing their emotions that adults tend to suppress. Like Katy said, second graders will just run up to you and give you a huge hug. This affection that the kids expressed carried through into her life outside of school: "I think my ability to be affectionate has been very deeply influenced by this job, being able to experience affection that's not sexual during the day. I have a lot of nonsexual affection with my friends now. Which is healthy" (Bracken 45). So not only does she love this aspect of her job, but it has really taught her how to make her relationships stronger outside of the classroom. It just another lesson that she learned from her students.

Katy Bracken started off lost, uncertain of what to do with her life, but a random assistant teaching job showed her what her true purpose in life was. Teaching was her redemption, it turned her life around, and now she has not only bettered her life, but those of children all around her.