With shifts and changes in the social and professional context of 21st century education, beginning teachers are especially challenged by conflicts between their personal beliefs and the reality of teaching, in addition to the struggles first-year teachers often encounter. While there is an established body of literature in teacher education that examines teachers' concerns, studies exploring the emergence of such concerns and beginning teachers' strategies to survive during their first year of teaching is limited. Specifically, more studies that focus on the professional development of secondary teachers are needed. In this study, the authors followed five secondary preservice teachers for two years during their teacher education program and their first year of teaching. Using interviews and their written narratives, the authors described: (1) major concerns of preservice teachers; and (2) strategies the teachers used to help them face their concerns. Identification of their concerns and especially the strategies they used as they better understood their students and their students' families and became more aware of their identities as teachers also shed light on reforms in current teacher education efforts. (Contains 1 table.)