Do What Inspires You

When you were a little girl or boy, I bet you knew exactly what you wanted to be when you grew up. You wanted to be a princess or a superhero; a teacher or an engineer; a scientist or a video game designer; a model or a professional ball player; a dancer or a professional rodeo cowboy; a ballerina or an astronaut; a nurse or a firefighter; a children’s book writer or a musician; a singer or a pilot; you wanted to get married and stay home and have babies; you wanted to be just like mommy or daddy; or... you aspired to become president.

Fast forward to my life as an adult. As an educator, it is my role to shape children’s lives. Educators must inspire them, encourage them, empower them, parent them, nurture them, love them. We listen to their stories and become part of their lives, as they often become part of ours. For some, we find it difficult to separate ourselves, regarding them as our own.

On a daily basis, we significantly impact the lives of many. For some, we may be the first or the only hug they get or give each morning… Monday through Friday.

Some miss us when vacations come around. They miss the warmth, understanding, structure, compassion, and balanced meals- breakfast and lunch. For many impoverished children, coming to school is the best thing they do on a regular basis.

Sometimes it is really just the little things that keep us on the treadmill of education stepping through the many cyclical changes, behavioral challenges with students, professional obligations, social expectations, and oh, the ever-evolving standards.

If someone would have told me 20 years ago I would become an educator, my response would have been that they had me confused me with someone who had dreamed of this from an early age. Really?

Clearly, they had me confused with someone who wanted to spend the day… five in a row... being with someone else’s kids? Who knew I could enjoy them so much? While I may not have been one of the children who knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up, it never crossed my mind to choose a career where I would have so much power.

Following graduation from high school I attended Vermont College of Cosmetology and eventually owned a successful salon. Then I became a disc jockey, and who knew a job could be so much fun?

Meeting so many people was socially rewarding for me, but who knew working nights could be so tiring? And then there were my kids… they wanted their mother to be someone who kept things in order, cooked them nice meals, kept their things clean, volunteered at school, contributed to bake sales, coached their teams, allowed friends over, read them stories before bed, and fixed all of their problems. My children deserved all of these things, as all children do.

At nearly 40, I realized I wanted to make a difference in the world outside of my own home, but did not know what this could look like. I settled into a course through the local community college, and realized that becoming a learner was both rewarding and enjoyable.

My first teaching position, by choice, was in a grade 3-5 alternative setting for children with severe emotional behavioral disorders who were not successful in a regular classroom setting for 3 years. I then moved into a public school 4th grade classroom.

It took me 3 years to realize that did not truly satisfy the creative side of me, and was then asked to help berth a program for children with emotional and behavioral problems who were not successful in the classroom. Who knew someone could become so immersed in something that was really not their own?