It's all about attitude

[Times photo: Jamie Francis] Jill Briscoe, new teacher, says she lives for the moment a struggling student says, "Ah, I can do this."

By Times staff

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 27, 2001

Personal History

Seventh and last in a series of first-person stories appearing in February, Black History Month.

Jill Briscoe, 27, got her MBA and pursued promotions and fat paychecks in corporate America. But she found what she truly wanted at G.V. Stewart Middle Magnet School in Tampa, teaching seventh-graders how to figure out the area of a rectangle and, sometimes, life's angles as well.

This is her story.

I worked for American Express Financial Advisers in Minneapolis, which is a big-headquarters, corporate-type thing. I worked for Tampa General Hospital. I was a contract specialist. You have this vision of yourself being this corporate person and making a whole lot of money.

Money is just not everything. It dawned on me that you need to love what you do to get up and go to work every day.

In Florida, they've opened the gates to try to get more teachers in. I started in August. I had to sign an agreement to earn my certification.

I wake up each morning without an alarm clock and come in with energy and a smile. I find dealing with these students ... it's not always about the math that I teach. There's other lessons that are learned.

It just makes me so happy.

What surprised me is teaching looks easy, but it is so not. If you don't have your i's dotted and your t's crossed, your students will call you on it. At this age, you can't pull fast ones on them at all.

The other surprise is I don't remember looking like this when I was in the seventh grade. The things they have to deal with are so unimaginable. They're trying to transition from little kids. Some of them still like to watch Rugrats or play with Barbies. They're also going through this adolescence and learning what it's like to be a teenager. All the time, attitude. All the time. Especially from the girls.

Our purpose is to build their strengths. Look at my "Welcome to Success" sign. Math can be challenging. But I'm here to help you.

My refrigerator is covered with pictures. One girl will bellyache about doing work all the time. But she drew me a picture. She drew me a heart and it said, "I know I complain a lot but it's only because I'm afraid. You are the very best teacher I ever had."

She can still come in and give me attitude. But the fact that she showed me some appreciation -- I was excited.

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