Education & Nonprofit

Education & Nonprofit Career Blog

Discovering My Passion for Teaching

By Olivia Maddox ’20

August 24, 2022

Tags Education & Nonprofit

At my first job, I worked as a summer camp counselor, or as my camp liked to call it,  “professional role model.” For three summers, I taught sports and crafts and led fun activities for the girls in my cabin. During my last summer, after my freshman year of college, I was in charge of teaching archery for all eight weeks. Some girls signed up to hone their skills, while others wanted to sit in the grass and chat with their friends. I gently nudged the more reluctant campers, and by the end of the session, everyone was hitting the target and having fun. During campers’ free time, many of them would come back to the archery field, either to hang out and talk or continue practicing.
 

During my sophomore year at Hamilton, my professor in the Chinese department told me about a teaching opportunity at the University of Macau, a special administrative region of  China, and encouraged me to apply. That summer, I worked as an English immersion program assistant and helped a class of incoming freshmen improve their English to pass a conditional language exam. I was a teaching assistant in the mornings and led English activities and games in the afternoons. I loved getting to know my students, but I started to wonder whether I wanted to teach after graduation.

By the time I was looking for jobs my senior year, I realized that all of my past work experiences, internships, and extracurriculars were loosely related to education. I knew I  wanted to continue working with students, but I also wanted to use the writing and editing skills that I developed as a history major. The thought of being a professor excited me, but I  didn’t feel ready for graduate school yet. Luckily, I stumbled upon a job on Handshake that seemed to fit all of my dream criteria. It was an educational consulting position based in New  York City, which involved working with students one-on-one rather than teaching in a classroom. When I saw that a Hamilton alum was working there, I knew I needed to apply.

At Thinktown Education, my job was to help students from China apply to top colleges in the United States and United Kingdom. Working at a start-up company like Thinktown allowed me to wear multiple hats and figure out what I liked best about the education industry. I talked to students and helped them brainstorm topics for their application essays, edited essay drafts, taught lessons about academic writing, and helped prepare students for mock interviews among other tasks. While the application season was extremely busy and stressful, I really enjoyed getting to speak to students about their ambitions, and in some cases, their mutual love of history. After a couple of promotions, my work became more about building a  bridge between the America and China offices and managing my own team. It was only then that I realized my favorite part of my job was working with students and helping them write compelling stories about their passions, identities, and communities through their college essays.

After helping dozens of students achieve their goals, I realized that my dream of being a professor patiently waited for me. With the encouragement of my support system, I decided to pivot to a part-time employee (where I focused solely on working with students), and I applied to Ph.D. programs in history. My job at Thinktown helped me realize what I did and did not want in a career and confirmed what I knew deep down about my skills, interests, and values.

For students who want to work in the education industry, there are plenty of opportunities waiting for you, too. I suggest joining a club or organization at Hamilton that truly excites you, as there are always mentorship and leadership roles that you can grow into. Additionally, be sure to maximize the Hamilton network and talk to people who are working in positions you are curious about. Finally, I strongly recommend talking to professors, academic advisors, and career advisors and seeing if they have any insight into what kind of work best suits you. Sometimes, like in my case, they might know about a job that you did not know even existed.