My journey into the field of education can be summed up by a simple French proverb, “One meets his destiny often in the road he takes to avoid it.” Hailing from a family with education as its heritage (both of my parents are teachers...and a large number of my aunts, uncles and cousins), I promised myself that I would not become an educator. I vowed to leave the ‘family business’ and venture out on my own. Although I had no clear idea as to what my desired career would be, I knew that working with children was my main goal.
Upon entering college, I chose pediatric nursing, as an act of rebellion towards my parents who wanted me to pursue a career in education. I later changed my major to psychology where I excelled and hoped to pursue a career in child psychology. I graduated and immediately began searching for jobs as I planned for graduate school. I soon became discouraged. Unbeknownst to me, I was among a generation of college graduates who would enter a workforce where few jobs were available.
After months of searching independently, my parents urged me to apply for any non-instructional positions available within the school district. I reluctantly filled out my application, applied and was surprised to receive a phone call from an administrator at North Marion Middle School who was interested in interviewing me for a position in the discipline office. I got the job and could not have been more excited yet horrified. I came to the realization that my destiny was staring me in my face and I had no choice but to surrender to it. I began taking the necessary steps needed to become an educator and have been successful thus far.
A year has passed since I have been hired and I have been promoted to the information processing clerk position at my school. With each year, I have grown more knowledgeable and intrigued at how much is involved in operating a school. Upon being hired as a teacher, I would like to teach language arts. Many of my favorite teachers during high school were language arts teachers. I enjoyed learning about authors, the inspiration and meaning behind their work and how their work relates to our lives. It is my hope that I can inspire my future students to explore books in the same way that my past teachers have done for me.
