I AM a trainee teacher in my second year on the three-year BA at University College Worcester and I love it.

I worked as a nursery nurse for 15 years before entering on the course and felt that morale and job satisfaction was extremely low in that profession.

As manager of a nursery I was responsible for planning daily activities and curriculum- led learning as well as preparing for OFSTED inspections.

Throughout the year I was also responsible for the effective assessment of the children in my care as well as general behaviour management tasks with the children.

This took place over 51 weeks of the year, from eight in the morning till six at night, along with mountains of paperwork in the evening.

I am now entering into a career where I know that there will be paperwork, needless form filling, assessments and meetings to attend.

The list is endless and could quite easily be perceived in a negative role, but I had another reason for entering into what seems like a doomed profession.

I have embarked on three years of student poverty in order to enable me to fulfil a worthwhile vocation - it is not simply a job.

As with nursery nursing, the people who become involved in teaching do so because they have a passion for watching young minds develop and grow, and knowing that they were part of that.

Helping a child to overcome a hurdle in a certain subject and knowing that you helped them to achieve that is worth a weekend of marking and assessments.

While I admit that standing in front of 30 youngsters whose ages can range from five to 11 years, (although not usually in the same class) is daunting.

It can also be the most rewarding feeling in the world. Try it one day and you too will know the feeling.

As for the perks that others perceive - such as long holidays and short working days - let me tell you that these teachers are not slackers.

They work, on average, more than 60 hours a week and in addition to that they also have to attend staff meetings, parents evenings etc.

While I admit that I will get longer holidays than I did while working in the nursery, that does not mean that I will be slacking.

In three weeks time I begin another block school placement.

As my family and friends will vouch for, my whole time will be consumed during this period with everything that happens at school.

This is not because I am some sort of anorak or workaholic who has nothing else in her life to entertain her.

It is simply that I am a dedicated person who feels passionately about what she does and that she has something to offer others.

Although some trainee teachers may leave in the first four years out of university I can only assume that they did not fully understand what they were going into.

Yes, it is a hard job, but a lot of the time it can be a great deal of fun, and it's is up to individuals to rediscover the fun part of teaching.

One teacher, who did not wish to be named, said the idea they had long holidays was a thing of the past, but the joy was still in the job.

"Teachers get a lot of bad press about the number of holidays we have but the vast majority spend quite a great deal of time marking, preparing, writing schemes of work and catching up with new material.

"We also work long hours during the term, and we don't get the four months holiday a year that people seem to think.

"But we do it because we love the job."

And Clive Corbett, headteacher at Pershore High School, in Station Road, Pershore, said the profession had changed but quality, enthusiastic teachers were still coming through.

"We may get fewer applications for each position but we have six excellent newly-qualified teachers on our staff.

"They are enthusiastic and high quality and now it is a challenge for them to keep their lessons interesting.

"If you teach in an imaginative way the results will come and the job will remain varied and fun."