ABSTRACT
Dawan Coombs shares her recollections of a mentor who was instrumental in shaping the teacher she is becoming as she begins her narration of this chapter. This story provides entrée into Rachel's own questions about who she is becoming and who she hopes to be in the future. Rachel's stories in the chapter highlight the tensions between her personal and professional identities while also sharing her concerns about the personal commitment that teaching demands. During the second half of Rachel's second year, she continues to wrestle with self-doubt raised by discrepancies she sees between the career she has and what she envisioned her teaching career would be. In particular, Rachel discusses her concerns about how to navigate teaching controversial texts and issues of school safety in the context of school shootings. Rachel's stories and reflections invite readers to consider how their own personal and professional identities can inform their practice and their own processes of becoming teachers.
