In Turkey, as in many other parts of the world, the teaching profession has been associated with an idealistic sense of virtuousness inspired by a naïve enthusiasm to contribute to the betterment of the world (Lozano & Kizilaslan, 2012). However, when faced with the challenges inherent to the profession, many young teachers are confronted with the realities of low salaries, inadequate teaching facilities, heavy workloads, and crowded classes. The author asked his students to write daily reflections at the end of every class (and semester reflections at the end of every term). Students were asked to reflect upon what had happened in class, and to think about how they had grown or changed based on class topics, examples, and discussions. What follows are four lessons learned by the author over the last three years of teaching in Turkey. [For the complete Volume 12 proceedings, see ED597979.]