The purpose of the paper is to present the reasons students at the Faculty of Education in Maribor, Slovenija, chose pedagogy for their study direction, and therefore becoming a teacher. A total 237 second-year students of the academic year 2003/04 were included in the research. Of the five groups of reasons for choosing this program (altruistic, material, self-realization and alternative, and reasons arising from aspiration stereotype), students most often asserted self-realization, including: teaching provides a useful public function for the whole society; as a teacher, I can be an example to children and young people; this profession will give me a chance for professional development during my whole career; and teaching will enable me to use all my abilities (and talents--for example, music, verbal, dancing, etc.) Important differences were found to exist between students of different disciplines.