Eric Michals

My internship has been the most interesting part of my life so far due to its complex challenges

and the fact that those students will depend on me for knowledge. This experience changed me in

many ways from the way I act to the way I think. Overall this internship didn’t change me in any

specific way, but it is better put that my internship changed me for the better.

The first thing that changed was the way I carried myself. Yes, this is more personal than

professional, however this has been the most noticeable change and to me, one of the most

important. Before my internship I was always filled with self-doubt and anxiety of what could happen,

now I feel better than I ever had before. I believe that this is due to the fact that I have been searching

about what my impact is going to be on the world and this internship taught, and has shown me a way

to achieve this goal. I always thought that teachers were overrated and that it would be the last career

option I would ever explore. That thought is now forgotten and replaced by feelings of

accomplishment, self-worth, and something to work towards. It’s like teaching was the missing part of

my body that I had finally found.

The last and most important part of my transformation is the newfound respect that I have for

teachers. I never knew what it took for something as simple as watching a video in class. I taught a

35 minute lesson the second to last week of my internship and that 35 minute lesson took me more

than 4 hours to prep for. I spent at least 4 hour hand cutting out 400 flashcards and probably around

2 or 3 more hours to write my lesson plan and create the computer part of the lesson. I used to think

teachers would just pull out worksheets as something to teach us if they were lazy, but I now know

that making a lesson interactive is very hard and time consuming. You have to make sure all students

are given equal opportunity in terms of learning style and accommodations and the students can’t
have a couple of minutes of free time because they will begin to talk and you won’t get their full

attention back for another 3 or 4 minutes. This has made me be very appreciative of the teachers I

have and that in order to be a teacher you have to be in love with learning and helping others.

In conclusion this internship has made me a better person and has made me find others more

idealistic and appreciated. My internship has both fixed my physical and mental state I was in and

replaced it with a new more positive person. This internship was the best part of my life so far and it

may even have the capability to change my life.