Background Experiences

What or who initially drew you into the field of physical education? When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in physical education? Do you still feel the same way about the field of physical education than you did when you first made the decision?

I can't say that I was initially drawn to Physical Education as much as I was drawn to potentially coaching high school or college sports. I didn't have much of an influence that drew me to being a physical educator by former teachers that I had in school. There turned about to be two quality teachers in PE that had me in class, but I was unable to understand their value until I was deep into my undergrad. Along with coaching my passion consisted of law and I found I was good at teaching fellow teammates and peers in class at my high school. So, after originally deciding not to pursue law (ironically was my first passion, but I quit because I thought I would be in school too long and wouldn't be able to afford school, jokes on me now) my best option was to be a history teacher because then I could coach and teach something I liked. My decision changed to PE because I wanted to help others who didn't understand or get the chance to play sports and be active. Speaking as a 19 year old uneducated student; I shamefully, also thought the three month’s vacation and wearing sweats to school were great potential benefits.
To try and narrow down who played an influence on me becoming a PE teacher, I think it’s fair to say my former PE teachers were fun and carried similar interests to me, so that intrigued me. My passion to teach others what I knew probably stemmed from my Dad and the compassion he taught me towards helping those around you. The best answer is probably associated to a series of what I thought were logical decisions originally leading me to this career.
Honestly, my ideas and feelings towards physical education now compared to when I started a few years ago aren't even on the same radar. It is easy to understand and identify many of the stereo types we have learned about throughout our undergrad because I thought and believed many of them. I never thought there was a lot to being a PE teacher and school not only taught me differently but became my passion. I value education and the responsibility of physical education, more than I ever did when I started. My professors and fellow students really promoted the importance of PE and my feelings about the profession.

Kelly

It sounds like we had very similar reasons for initially getting into physical education. When I was in high school I worked baseball camps over the summer. One summer I worked with a great camp director who was also a PE teacher and he influenced me to enter PETE. However, I made the decision more for a love of sport than because I wanted to teach quality physical education. I remember being asked once in undergrad why I wanted to be a PE teacher and I really struggled with the question. I think I said something like "I love sports and knew that I wasn't going to be a professional athlete, so PE seemed like a natural choice." With that said, my undergrad experience was very transformative. It really helped me to understand the value of quality physical education and I left wanted to be a great teacher. It sounds like undergraduate PETE worked for both of us!

KARR

Several factors drew me into the field of physical education.  The first is my parents' occupations.  My mother has been a home daycare provider for 35 years.  She displays so much love for her daycare kids and takes pride in her job.  Her kids are always engaged in playful experiences, mostly social, that they can learn from when at my mothers home.  When I was younger, I enjoyed trying to teach her kids how to throw and catch.  As for my dad, he is a music teacher at a middle school.  I had my dad as a teacher at school and at home.  Music is his one true love, and you can tell as he teaches.  He loves it so much, that my brothers and I play multiple instruments.  When I was little, he encouraged me to sing, and he helped me through national choir and many talent competitions.  It brings him so much joy, well, did.  Now that I am older, he talks to me about being marginalized within his school.  This topic easily correlates with Physical Education and it shows me how much he still cares because he chooses to talk to me about his struggles within his school.

Another large event drew me to the health field.  When I was 16, I was hospitalized with a large blood clot, and this event made me want to pursue a career in physical education.  The DVT prevented me from playing contact sports.  Growing up, I played absolutely every sport imaginable, and I really enjoyed them because I was good.  I never thought of playing sports as my form of exercise to remain healthy.  It was just what I did.  When I couldn't play sports because of my clot, I took up running.  At the time of my DVT, my parents knew nothing about exercise and its benefits, and they were both overweight.  Being the sweet talker that I am, I convinced my mother to join me on some runs.  We began to go together everyday.  She was losing weight, and you could tell she felt better.  Much like dominoes, my mom convinced my dad to begin exercising with us.  As of this year, my dad has lost almost 150 pounds and no longer has heart or breathing problems.  Seeing two of the closest people to me benefit from exercising and improve their health made me want to help others.  It also made me realize the importance of creating healthy habits early.  If my dad would have been educated properly when he was younger, he might have prevented his heart and breathing problems.

As the world enters a new age of technology, I feel that physical education is more important than ever.  When I was growing up, playing outside was the "cool" thing to do.  Now playing video games and watching You Tube and Netflix are the new "cool" activities.  I am realizing how much of a problem childhood obesity is since moving to Louisiana, and there is so much that physical educators can do to help.

Angela

I really enjoyed reading about your background and what drew you into physical education! It sounds like having parents who were educators and your own experiences with sport were key in helping you to find your passion. I agree that PA is becoming more important as we enter an increasingly technological age. I think you are correct in noting that video games have replaced physical activity as the "cool thing" to do as a child. While I am an avid gamer myself and believe that video games have their place in recreation, they should not be the end-all-and-be-all of childhood entertainment. When I was a kid we played in the neighborhood for hours - anything we could to be active. While children today are still involved in organized sports, these tend to get selective at the high school level and it seems as if informal, child organized physical activity has all but ceased.