Being a teacher may be one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. A teacher has to deal with a wide range of personalities, overzealous parents, demanding curriculum requirements, and still push through and educate. However, for a select few, this is the chosen profession. But before teachers are able to earn their stripes and get their own classrooms, they must go through a long training process, known as student teaching.

At Hillsborough High School, there are currently four student teachers engaging in this valuable learning experience. Kris Centofanti, a student at The College of New Jersey, is currently student teaching in the area of world history with history teacher Sandra Davis-Myers.

When asked what was most unexpected about being a teacher, Centofanti explained that he was surprised by how much work teachers have in dealing with individual students’ personalities.

For student teacher Carri Eve Horna, who is currently being mentored by science teacher Shawn Templin, something else entirely shocked her the most.

“The long hours were most surprising to me,” Horna said, “I never actually realized just how much time teachers have to spend here.”

Some, such as TCNJ’s Nelson Kelly, who is working with history teacher Robert Fenster, found other things surprising, and, in some cases, weird.

“I think the weirdest part about actually being in a school is people calling me Mr. Kelly, mostly because I feel like I look younger than the seniors,” Kelly said. “I feel more at home with the sophomores, I feel like those are my people.”

Another student teacher, Nicole Grafanakis is currently working with English teacher A.J. Smith. However, this is not her first time student teaching, so she found another aspect of the experience unexpected.

“Before this, I’ve always taught in inner-city schools,” Grafanakis said. “It was interesting to me to see how different those schools are than here, and the different environments in both.”

For many of the senior teachers involved in the student teaching program this year, it is their first time as a mentor. Prior to this year, only Fenster has had a student teacher.

Some of the teachers, such as Templin and Davis Myers, found it interesting to see how student teachers learned new things that experienced teachers take for granted.

Smith was surprised by how individual the student teaching program was, and liked how the student teacher and teacher were able to figure how the experience would work best for both of them, instead of having to follow a strict formula.

“I remember during my own student teaching, the rules about what and what not to do were very rigid,” Smith said. “I like being able to figure out what works and what doesn’t work on my own.”

As for the advice teachers would give to students who want to be teachers? Well, that varies.

“Go for it,” Centofanti said. “It’s a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun.”

“Teaching is a vocation which requires a tremendous amount of commitment and skill to develop into a good teacher,” Fenster said.

While the work is hard the rewards are worth the struggle.

“Don’t listen to every other teacher that says don’t do it,” Kelly said. “If you actually want to do it and have passion, do it.”