Profile Essay

Beyond the Lesson: How Purpose and Resilience Shape a Teachers Life

Introduction

            Teaching is seen as a profession surrounded by lesson plans, curriculum, and classroom management. A profession that people often overlook and under appreciate. However, behind every teacher is a personal story on why they teach. This profile essay explores the life and experiences of Mrs. Hayes, a teacher whose journey into education was not intentional. Instead, it was shaped by responsibility, hardship, and resilience. Through a interview with her and myself, and a classroom observation this essay examines how her personal experiences influence herself as a teacher. Everything including her teaching style, her connection with her students, and her meaning she finds in her work is all because of what she has been through. Ultimately, Mrs. Hayes identity as a teacher is deeply rooted in her life experiences. She shows exactly how personal struggle can transform into purpose within a professional role.

Methodology

            To better understand Mrs. Hayes experiences, I conducted a interview along with a classroom observation. During the interview I asked open ended questions to allow her to reflect on her life and motivations. I also observed her classroom environment before students arrived to analyze how her physical space reflects her teaching style and personal experiences. In addition to these primary sources, I incorporated secondary research including articles and scholarly texts on teaching, resilience, and personal growth. All of this was to connect her experiences to broader concepts.

Scene 1 interview

By the time we get to the end of the interview with Mrs. Hayes, the call feels quieter than when we first started. Not because our spaces have changed, but because our conversation did.

The silence feels fuller now. It’s like everything she has just shared is still sitting between us, not uncomfortable but heavy in a way that makes me more aware of every pause. 

She’s sitting across from me, with her hands folded loosely across the desk, her shoulders sat relaxed and slumped not because of exhaustion, but because of everything heavy she’s shared with me today. 

Her fingers shift slightly against each other, like she’s grounding herself in the moment. I notice how still she’s become compared to earlier in the conversation. 

I hesitated before I asked my last question. “So, after everything you’ve been through,” I say carefully, “Why do you still teach?”

Mrs. Hayes doesn’t answer right away. She looks around the room and ponders like she’s thinking through something bigger than just the one question I asked. When she finally speaks the tone of her voice seems softer than it was before. “It’s those Ah-ha moments,” Mrs. Hayes explains as she laughs quietly.

I wait, not interrupting her.

“The moments where it clicks for the kid, where they go Ohhh Mrs. Hayes I get it now!” she continues while looking up at me excitedly, “Like everything makes sense.”

She lets out a small sigh almost like a laugh but there’s emotion behind it. 

“And then for them to come up to me in High school,” She tries to catch a quick breath, but I can see the gloss and tears start to form in her eyes. “They say Mrs. Hayes, I understand it now, thank you for teaching me because now I’m in advanced math classes or I’m going to college.”

By now, there’s tears rolling down the side of her face. Her voice wavers slightly, not breaking, but stretching around the emotion. I can hear just how much these moments mean to her beyond just teaching. Theres a pause after she finishes talking. Her eyes meet mine again and this time she doesn’t look away.

“It’s the success stories and all my students in class, even though I may not remember all of them some of them stand out.”

She presses her lips together harder for a minute so she can catch her breath and try not to cry more than she already is. 

“And Harlee your one of those students and thank you so much of thinking of me to do this with you.” She finally says and almost gasps for air so she can catch her breath to hear my full reaction.

I don’t know what to say.

For a second everything seems still. The rooms, the air, even my thoughts. I wasn’t expecting that. And I wasn’t expecting to be apart of her answer. She looks up for a second trying to keep the tears from falling down her cheeks. 

“So yeah, that’s what keeps me going.” She finishes and those tears she tried to keep up fell anyways.

I sit there, realizing that this wasn’t just an answer to a question. 

I start thinking about how overwhelming teaching must have been when she first started. I can almost imagine her walking into her first classroom with so many responsibilities and so little time, just like the first-year teacher described in “The First Year Teachers Are Not Okay” (Chocolate for the Teach). I picture her printing last minute lessons, arranging her classroom, and trying to attend every meeting. All in “survival mode” exactly like the article said. Seeing her now, I can almost feel how those first months must have shaped her, and now I understand why she values every “Ah-ha” moment so much. 

This moment also connects to my research on grief and resilience. In The Other Side of Sadness, George Bonanno explains that many people experiencing loss are still able to continue their daily responsibilities. Describing them as “resilient and grief,” where individuals maintain stability even while carrying emotional pain (Bonanno 12). Watching Mrs. Hayes reflect on her teaching I realize her ability to keep showing up for students may not have meant she wasn’t struggling, but that she was learning how to exist in both spaces at once. Grief and responsibility. 

It was the reason Mrs. Hayes keeps showing up. After everything she’s been through with her son, her ex-husband, and her struggles during her early years and school. Even though all of that was hard on her, none of it could stop her from teaching because that matters so much to her. 

Instead of grief pulling her away from teaching, it seems to have become part of the reason she stayed. Bonannos idea that grief involves moving between moments of pain and normal functioning (45) helps explain how she could still find meaning in her classroom while experiencing something so personal. This realization strengthens the idea that her teaching is not separate from her life experiences, but directly shaped by them.

And suddenly, this project didn’t feel like just any assignment anymore. 

It feels like something I’ll remember too. 

Earlier in the interview, before the conversation became so heavy there was moments where Mrs. Hayes laughed. It wasn’t the emotional kind of laugh like it was towards the end. This one was quicker and lighter.

“I didn’t have plans to be a teacher.” She admits, leaning back slightly.

I looked up from my notes, almost caught off guard. It’s hard to imagine her doing anything else.

“My husband, not my husband now but my husband at the time told me I either needed to go back to school or to get a job.” Theres no anger in her voice when she says it. Only honesty, like she was grateful for this experience. 

“I had my son,” she continues while her voice tightens just slightly, “who was special needs.” She paused for a second and looked around the room almost unsure of what to say next. “I thought to myself what kind of career do I need to go into when my oldest son needed special care?” She pauses and looks around again. “So, I choose school.” 

It's a very simple sentence, but the weight behind it lingers.

That simple decision reflects something deeper than just choosing a job. Her choice was shaped by responsibility and caregiving. Showing how personal circumstances can directly influence career paths. Especially in helping professions like teaching. 

“And you know if I went into the cooperate world, then I would have to find care for him after school, and during holidays, and during spring break, and during summer break.” 

As she continued to list all the times she would need help with, I realized how limited her options were for jobs. 

“But then I thought if I go into education, I would be able to see him throughout the day, and our schedules would line up. And so, I went back to school for education.” She says in a grateful tone like she knows she made the right decision. 

Theres a quiet pause between us. This time, it's not filled with emotion yet, but with understanding. Because this wasn’t just a career choice.

As I sit there listening, I start connecting her words to something I read in “Why Do Teachers Teach?” (Marshall University). The article talks about how teaching gives people a sense of purpose because “every lesson, every conversation, every bit of guidance contributes to something far bigger than yourself.” Right then, I realize that’s exactly what she’s describing. The way she lights up when a student finally understands. I can see that purpose isn’t just about teaching math. It's about shaping lives, being a role model for her students, and seeing them succeed. 

This idea becomes even more complex when thinking about identity. In Posttraumatic Growth, Richard Tedeschi and Lawerence Calhoun explain that people who experience major life challenges can develop a stronger sense of purpose and deeper empathy for others (18). Listening to Mrs. Hayes, I begin to see that her connection to her students may come not just from teaching experience, but from everything she has lived through outside the classroom. 

Her choices were about survival.

 About responsibility. 

About being a mother first and building a life around that. 

And sitting there, listening to her I realize something I hadn’t fully understood before. She didn’t just become a teacher because she loved it. She became one because she needed to, and then somewhere along the way, it became something she couldn’t imagine leaving.

Her story reflects what Tedeschi and Calhoun describe as growth existing alongside struggle, where pain doesn’t just disappear. Instead, it reshapes how someone understands their role in the world (7). Teaching, for her, became more than just a job, it became a way to carry meaning forward. Rather than these ideas conflicting, they seem to work alongside each other in her experience. While she continues to show up and meet the demands of teaching, she is also becoming more empathetic and purposeful in the way she connects with her students. This suggests that her resilience and personal growth are happening at the same time, not separately.

Her passion reflects how teaching becomes more than a job. It becomes a source of identity and meaning.

Scene 2 Classroom Observation

             When I walk into Mrs. Hayes empty classroom before her day begins at Rome Middle school, the first thing I notice is how still everything feels. Even without anyone in it, the room is still quieter than I expected. The fluorescent lights hum softly above me filling in the silence in a way that almost replaces conversation. However, the quiet doesn’t feel empty. It feels prepared, like the room is holding its breath before the day begins, waiting for movement, voices, and energy to fill it. This sense of anticipation mirrors the purpose she described in the interview, showing how her mindset carries into her physical environment. The circle tables are arranged neatly in a scattered way Mrs. Hayes can easily walk in-between. All the chairs are pushed in, like the room is waiting for something to begin. 

The brand new tech white boards they have sat on the wall turned off waiting to be used. The white board that still remained stretched across the remainder off the wall still holding traces of past lessons. Faint marker stains that didn’t fully erase overlapping with fresh writing. It almost feels like layers of time, each class leaving something behind. 

Posters and decorations hanging from the ceiling fill the room with bright colors. Some of the posters explain math concepts and some offer encouragement. Her desk sits off to the side, not organized to the eye, but to her it's perfect. Papers are stacked in small piles, pens are scattered in different colors for grading, and in the middle of the desk sits a picture frame. 

I move a little closer, not touching anything, just observing.

It's a photo of her and her son. Even with her not being in here it's still stands out as the most personal thing in here. Something that doesn’t belong to the classroom but somehow holds a place in it anyways. Everything else in the room feels like it's meant for teaching. But this picture frame is meant for her. I find myself looking at it longer than anything else in the room. It feels like a reminder that her life outside of teaching is always present, even in her space built for students.

As I scan the room, I start to thinking about what I read in “The First Year Teachers Are Not Okay” (Chocolate for the Teach). The article talks about feeling unprepared and overwhelmed by all the tasks teachers must handle. But standing here, I don’t see that or feel that at all. Mrs. Hayes classroom is visibly a place of control for her, a space where she can carefully arrange everything to anticipate the day ahead. Every detail, even the placement of journals or desks, it's a tool for managing the chaos she once faced. 

This sense of control also connects also connects to what George Bonanno explains in The Other Side of Sadness, where he argues that people dealing with grief often rely on structure and routine to maintain stability in their daily lives (Bonnano 39). Looking around her classroom, I can see how this environment may function as that kind of structure for her. Her classroom is a space where things are predictable and organized all within her control. 

Chaos from not only her early years of teaching, but chaos from her early life and living with the unpredictability that came with her son. 

I look around again, noticing how intentional everything seems. The way the desks are grouped suggests collaboration. The math journals stacked neatly on a side table hint at routine. Even the board space is divided carefully, like she already knows how each lesson will unfold before it begins. This isn’t just a classroom where lessons happen, It's a space designed for students to succeed. 

This intentional design reflects more than just good teaching. It's reflects what Richard Tedeschi and Lawerence Calhoun describe in Posttraumatic Growth as identity transformation after hardship. They explain that individuals who experience significant loss often respond by reconstructing their sense of purpose and values (96). In this classroom that transformarion becomes visible through the way every detail supports student understanding and structure.

I start reflecting on the way classroom setup affects students learning. The “Why Do Teachers Teach?” article (Marshall University) mentions that teachers help shape communities, not just classrooms. 

I see that here.

 Mrs. Hayes has made a welcoming environment that communicates safety, structure, and support. It’s a space that’s been built, piece by piece, by someone who knows exactly what it feels like to struggle, and exactly what it means to finally understand. Standing there, without the noise, without the movement, it becomes clearer.

Her classroom doesn’t just reflect her teaching style, but it reflects her experiences, suggesting that her personal challenges have shaped how she creates spaces for others to learn and feel supported. 

Before the students even walk in, before a single word is spoken, Mrs. Hayes has already created a place where learning is supposed to feel possible.

And somehow, even in the quiet, that purpose is still there.

Conclusion

            Through both the interview and classroom observation, it becomes clear that Mrs. Hayes’s teaching is deeply influenced by her personal experiences. Her journey into education was shaped by responsibility and necessity. Over time, it evolved into something meaningful and fulfilling. The emotional moments she shared, along with the intentional design of her classroom, reveal how resilience and hardship can shake not only a person's identity but also their impact on others. Mrs. Hayes’s story demonstrate that teaching is more than delivering lessons, it's also about connection, growth, and creating opportunities for others to succeed. This profile ultimately shows that behind every classroom is a story, and in her case that story is one of strength and lasting influence.

No form of artificial intelligence was used during any stage of the process for reading/composing this assignment.

Works Cited:

Chocolate for the Teach. The First Year Teachers Are Not Okay. Chocolate for the Teach, 2026, https://chocolatefortheteach.com/the-first-year-teachers-are-not-okay/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.

Marshall University. Why Do Teachers Teach? Marshall University, 2026, https://www.marshall.edu/blog/why-do-teachers-teach/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.

Hayes, Laura. Personal interview. 14 Feb. 2026.

Bonanno, George A. The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After Loss. Basic Books, 2009.

Tedeschi, Richard G., and Lawrence G. Calhoun. Posttraumatic Growth: Positive Changes in the Aftermath of Crisis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995.