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It’s been said before that teaching is a labor of love. That it’s a calling rather than a career, so much so that many young teachers decide their intended career path when they themselves are students.

That’s the case for Stuart Smith, a student in the final year of a journalism degree at Colorado State University. He says that the urge to become a history teacher has been with him for 12 years.

“I decided to become a teacher back in high school, like my sophomore year,” Smith said. “I just never got around to it.”

Smith is returning to college after several years away. He, like many other students, had his studies interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and he eventually returned home to Orange County, California from Fort Collins, Colorado, where he was living and studying.

Now, he works as a substitute paraeducator, something he says has put him at a crossroads between his plan to teach high school history and his new love of elementary education.

“Every single day [of work] I’ve picked up since January 6has been in an elementary school.” Smith said. “I’ve probably had the most fun in the elementary schools, so now I’m like, do I want to change everything?”

This new path is something Smith hadn’t considered before, but it isn’t entirely shocking to his friend of 22 years and history teacher at Capistrano Unified School District, Braden Auer.

“It’s not super surprising,” Auer said. “That being said, based on what I know about Stuart and from my own teaching experience, I assumed he would have preferred middle or high school.”

Smith’s original plan is present in both his studies and extracurricular activities, as he spent time as a student journalist at Colorado State University and has coached at his old high school since returning home.

“I was planning to be the stereotypical high school history teacher and coach that every school has,” Smith said. 

In Auer’s opinion, the experience Smith has gained in pursuit of a journalism degree will only be helpful to both him and his future students.

As for what path he will eventually take, Smith is still undecided. “I have to choose, I have to decide, and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.