What comes next...
It's been a full year since I've turned in my white board markers and cheesy powerpoints. But what comes next? What comes after having the dream job? I mean my dogs came to work with me everyday, I helped deliver piglets, and got to teach teenagers how to be decent human beings. It's time for the next dream.
Do you remember career day when you were in school? You'd listen to a bunch of people talk about their jobs and then at the end your teacher would ask what you wanted to be when you grow up? I was awful at that day. I'm glad I was never graded because I couldn't pick. What I wanted to be when I grew up was always changing, even well into my teenage years.
My original dream was acting and writing. I wanted to be a screenwriter when I chose to major in English and minor in Theatre. I worked hard and slept little to get that degree. However, when I graduated from college, I didn't have a direction or a way to make my dream happen. So I turned to my second love, medicine.
From an early age, I have always been fascinated by the human body. I was the weird eight year old who could watch surgeries on 60 Minutes while eating. I never thought I was good enough at science, though. So I started taking a bunch of science classes and started working at a hospital. I though I wanted to be a doctor, but I learned better. I learned that the heart and the backbone of a hospital are the nurses. I had, finally, decided what I wanted to be when I grow up. Until I fell into teaching.
Teaching was something I had, actually, sworn I would never do. Never say never, right? I started substitute teaching as a way to make ends meet, and to maybe use that English degree every so often. I fell in love with teaching. I love watching that aha moment or letting students know they are loved even when they make a bad choice. I lived for my mantra of "there are no bad kids, just kids who make bad choices." I told that to anyone who would try to tell me teenagers were awful. These teenagers brought me life and joy, and pushing them to follow their dreams helped me follow mine.
As they told me what they wanted for their lives, I reminded them they could do anything and everything. I told them to remember that not everything will happen as they want or all at once, but to keep working hard and trying their best.
That advice helped me towards the end of my teaching career. I had realized that I hadn't written much since I graduated college. I had let that dream of being a writer fizzle to almost non existence. So I started freelance writing. And I'll tell you, it's the greatest. I get to write for a variety of people and platforms. I've even written commercials. I get to learn, grow, and expand. I get to, actively, work on a dream I love.
While I was teaching those teenagers about following their dreams, they were teaching me about following mine. I had, always, though I had to choose one. But they taught me that I don't. I can be a writer, a nurse, and anything else I want. I just have to keeping working at it, try my hardest, and not expect it all to happen at once.
Do you remember career day when you were in school? You'd listen to a bunch of people talk about their jobs and then at the end your teacher would ask what you wanted to be when you grow up? I was awful at that day. I'm glad I was never graded because I couldn't pick. What I wanted to be when I grew up was always changing, even well into my teenage years.
My original dream was acting and writing. I wanted to be a screenwriter when I chose to major in English and minor in Theatre. I worked hard and slept little to get that degree. However, when I graduated from college, I didn't have a direction or a way to make my dream happen. So I turned to my second love, medicine.
From an early age, I have always been fascinated by the human body. I was the weird eight year old who could watch surgeries on 60 Minutes while eating. I never thought I was good enough at science, though. So I started taking a bunch of science classes and started working at a hospital. I though I wanted to be a doctor, but I learned better. I learned that the heart and the backbone of a hospital are the nurses. I had, finally, decided what I wanted to be when I grow up. Until I fell into teaching.
Teaching was something I had, actually, sworn I would never do. Never say never, right? I started substitute teaching as a way to make ends meet, and to maybe use that English degree every so often. I fell in love with teaching. I love watching that aha moment or letting students know they are loved even when they make a bad choice. I lived for my mantra of "there are no bad kids, just kids who make bad choices." I told that to anyone who would try to tell me teenagers were awful. These teenagers brought me life and joy, and pushing them to follow their dreams helped me follow mine.
As they told me what they wanted for their lives, I reminded them they could do anything and everything. I told them to remember that not everything will happen as they want or all at once, but to keep working hard and trying their best.
That advice helped me towards the end of my teaching career. I had realized that I hadn't written much since I graduated college. I had let that dream of being a writer fizzle to almost non existence. So I started freelance writing. And I'll tell you, it's the greatest. I get to write for a variety of people and platforms. I've even written commercials. I get to learn, grow, and expand. I get to, actively, work on a dream I love.
While I was teaching those teenagers about following their dreams, they were teaching me about following mine. I had, always, though I had to choose one. But they taught me that I don't. I can be a writer, a nurse, and anything else I want. I just have to keeping working at it, try my hardest, and not expect it all to happen at once.
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