From kindergarten through college, teachers have an impact on their students that can last a lifetime. If you have a passion for learning and a desire to mold the minds of the future, teaching may be the career for you.

“Both my parents are retired educators and they encouraged me to go into teaching,” says 36-year-old Megan Lee, who resisted a career in education for years. But when she finally “caved,” says Lee, “I was shocked at how much I love it.”

Lee has been teaching first-grade for five years. “I just love teaching six-year-olds because you see so much growth. They’re just becoming readers and writers,” she says.

Kim Gardner is a first-year special education teacher whose classes are made up of high school students with severe emotional and behavioral problems. “I spent the first three weeks of this school year coming home every day in tears,” says the 27-year-old. But in the end, she adds, “It’s all about earning their trust. Once they know you’re going to hang in there, then it becomes about helping them make good choices in their lives.”