"tell me world. what should I do?"
One of my favorite and most thought provoking quote is from Mary Oliver's poem Summer Thought.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Oh, how I wish I could tell you! But unfortunately I have been blessed with a wild and crazy spirit that wants to experience ever aspect of life there is to experience, and therefore, I feel like I will never be able to decide what I want to do with my life. One day I want to be a successful business woman working downtown, then the next I decide I want to be an artist and work at a cafe to support myself, then the next day I want to sell everything I own to travel the world and work for a humanitarian organization. Come on mind, make a decision! What I do know is that I want to be happy {that's a pretty easy one} and I know I want to do something everyday that challenges me both creativity and intellectually. I'm at a career fork in the road right now and I need to choose a path to take. But which one??
I have always known that I have a passion for teaching (hence, my minor in Education) but the horrible job market has deterred me from following this career path. Lucky for me, the nonprofit I work for (Junior Achievement) provides financial literacy programs for K-12th grade students and I have been able to teach some of our programs in the classroom. I have always taught 1st grade, mainly because 6 year olds are pretty dang cute and just want to play and hold your hand, but last week I was asked to teach a 4th grade class. I'll admit, I was a little bit nervous because 4th graders can be challenging, but my time with this amazing class only solidified my desire to become a teacher. I had the best morning with these kids, teaching them about how to start a business and creating one of our own, and I walked away with an incredible high and feeling of self worth. There really isn't any better feeling than helping someone learn and grow, and watching that lightbulb go off when something clicks. Not to mention they kids were adorable and so much fun to be around. My favorite part:
Teacher: Ok everyone, it's time for Ms. Marks to leave
Students: {groaning} Oh man! Noooo!
One Student: Ms. Marks, will you be coming back next week?
Me: Sadly no, but I wish I could!
Student: Me too. You are the best! Will you sign my notebook?
That's right, I'm pretty much a celebrity. Handing out autographs left and right.
So, moral of this story is that I think I need to follow my heart and do what I love and what I'm good at. I can dream all day about becoming a professional photographer or a hip graphic designer or a super successful business woman, but when it comes down to it, I know that I will always be waiting to fill that void of incompleteness that I know will only be filled by being a teacher. I know it will be a hard and challenging road, but in the end I've been dreaming about this for years and know it is was I was meant to do. And hey, maybe I can still be a photographer or graphic designer on the side, right? One perk of being a teacher- you get summers off!!
It totally was my career goal to be a teacher. I always wanted/still want to teach AP US History in HS. But getting married and having a baby kinda put that on hold. I will do it, though! I can think of nothing more satisfying that educating and influencing another generation. Go for it!
ReplyDeletethis is a really awesome post. That's cool your minor is education. and yes! You can still do photography and graphic design!! I'm majoring in graphic design (I just started these classes this semester) and its rad. hard, but fun. I think you'd really like it!
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