If you’re in a career that you’re not happy with, that will affect every aspect of your life. As a parent myself, I’ve found happiness. And now my family is happy because of that—so happiness trickles down.

—KEN, director, Nature’s Childcare

WE PULLED INTO the parking lot of Nature’s Childcare. On the front window, I spotted a colorful cartoon painting of myself in which I was giving a thumbs-up. Above it in multicolor print read, “Welcome Sean Aiken!”

I smiled to myself. I’m a preschool teacher.

Nature’s Childcare opened in 2006 and had about 150 children enrolled. The director, Ken, greeted me and gave me a tour. Ken was not your typical child-care worker. For one thing, child care is a female-dominated industry. And with his six-foot-six, three-hundred-pound frame, he more resembled an NFL linebacker than a child-care worker. But before he even said a word, his kind face and gentle smile were a dead giveaway—he was the big teddy bear type.

It’s unfortunate that we tend to stereotype careers into being more female- or male-oriented. There are not many male figures in child care, and Ken had been discriminated against as a result. This is something he worked hard to change as he recognized how important it is that children have both positive female and male role models. The school was lucky to have him.

After the tour, a local news crew arrived and wanted to get some footage of me with the kids. I hadn’t been there fifteen minutes, but I found myself in front of a class of five-year-olds reading a story aloud. Knowing that I had to keep the attention of a roomful of harsh critics demanding to be entertained, I mimicked voices of the different characters, added big “wow” facial expressions, asked leading questions. And it worked. They sat quietly in front of me, stared intently at the pictures, and even started to add their own sound effects. As I grew more comfortable, my voices got more spirited and my expressions bigger.

Everyone at Nature’s Childcare loved what they were doing; they were clearly in the profession for the right reasons, as Ken kept reaffirming, “We’re poor in our pockets, yet rich in our hearts.” It takes a certain type of person to work with kids. The job demands a lot of patience but comes with great rewards. No matter what’s going on in your life, or how bad traffic was on the way to work, this is a job where it’s difficult to start the day in a bad mood. The kids are always so happy to see you. How can you not smile when, as you enter a room, your adoring five-year-old fans run toward you, shout your name with excitement, and give you a big hug?

I enjoyed it so much that I’d make the rounds of the classrooms in order to re-create the group hug as often as possible. I’d stay with a class long enough to play some games, get the kids all excited and worked up, then move on to the next room. I was like the fun uncle—“Mr. Sean’s here!” “Time to play games and have fun!” I’m not convinced the other teachers, left with a hyper class to settle down, appreciated my rounds as much as I did.

As I sat across from Ken in his office, he was pumped. “I love coming to work! It’s a great feeling to walk into a room and have twenty kids cheer, ‘Mr. Ken!’ It’s pretty much love at home and love at work. I’ve seen so many children learn how to tie their shoes, climb the monkey bars for the first time, or learn some sort of new activity. And to know that I’m helping is amazing.”

Ken has a great vision for the center: He wants to bring attention to the importance of providing quality child care and positive role models, and aims to make Nature’s Childcare the best child-care facility in the state of Idaho. I have no doubt he will.

I never realized the extent to which day care is involved in a child’s upbringing. Some of the kids spend close to twelve hours a day there, five days a week. I’d guess that in many cases the teachers know the child better than the child’s parents do. By the time some parents pick up their kids at the end of the day, there’s only enough time to have dinner, spend a couple of hours together, then put them to bed—only to drive them back to the school the next morning. I learned that kids are incredibly impressionable, and so these teachers play a huge part in their growth and development. It’s something they take a lot of pride in and is a major factor in their job satisfaction.

A common theme I noticed throughout the year was that the people who were the most passionate about their jobs felt they were contributing to something greater than themselves. They genuinely believed in what they were doing and understood the significance of their job in the bigger picture. It matters that they show up to work each day, because they give something valuable, whether to the company, the community, or the world.

I thought back to my week at the martial arts studio. Robert and Emma focused on developing a strong sense of community, getting the kids active, and leading a healthy lifestyle, making the world a better place by empowering their children.

When I worked with George on the organic dairy farm milking eighty cows twice a day, at first I was just milking cows and dealing with dung, until George explained to me that it was much more than that. To George, he was providing food for thousands of people in an eco-friendly way. It’s what got him out of bed before sunrise every morning.

The people I worked with at Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation were passionate about achieving the vision of the foundation—“to conquer cancer.” They knew that the better job they do, the more people they help.

And I saw it again during my week at Nature’s Childcare.

It reminded me that in many instances the best way to help ourselves is to focus on how we can help others. It can be any job, but the important thing is that we’re working toward something we feel is significant. And I learned that if we can relate whatever that job is to the bigger picture, we’ll be much happier.