Sometimes this question haunts me. I wonder if the line of work that I am currently in is the line of work that I was meant to be in. Originally when I was making plans to go to college I had intentions of being a pre-med major. Once I got to my chosen school I was excited to find out that they had a medical technology major that was offered, and I declared that as my chosen one. My first semester I must have been a bit crazy (or just following through with my normal overacheieving behavior, as usual) as I signed up for 18 semester hours. Included in these semester hours were a biology and chemistry class both with labs, along with 10 other credit hours worth of courses. Somehow I still managed to pull off a 3.7 GPA that crazy busy first semester. Once I started my second semester I realized it was very similar to my first semester schedule. I still had biology and chemistry with labs and I think I had 7 other credit hours in addition to those. Unfortunately I learned early on in this second semester that they were doing away with the medical technology program and that I would have to be a biology major with a chemistry minor instead. At that time I really didn't want to do that, due in part to an egotistical biology professor who was not only horribly cocky but also very sexist, and a chemistry professor who reminded me of Ben Stine when he did the Clear Eyes commercials. It was still early enough in the semester where I was able to drop and add classes with no penalty, so after deciding that gthe biology/chemistry route was not the way I wanted to go, I went to the registrar and did just that. I had taken an introductory French course my first semester, mainly to fulfill a general education requirement but also because I enjoyed it and it was extremely easy for me. After dropping the science courses and labs I signed up for 2 additional French courses instead. Not too long after this I decided that I would like to major in French. The next logical question was, "What the heck can I do with this as a major?" Me being the smarty pants that I am, I quickly realized that I could minor in secondary education and be a teacher. From this point on I stuck with my chosen major and minor, graduating in four years and having to come back for one additional semester to student teach and finish up a couple of courses as a post-bac student.
Now I am 10 plus years into my chosen career. With all the changes that have come to the educational table during that time and the seeming lack of support and respect from many students and parents (not all though) I sometimes wonder if I chose the right career. I wonder if by making the decision to not major in biology and minor in chemistry if I sold myself short, if I could be doing something in the scientific field now. I wasn't afraid of the amount of work it would have taken; I am an intelligent person and could have handled it and handled it well. Perhaps I would have gone into something like nursing eventually. Unfortunately at this point now it is too late. I am already (hopefully) a third of the way through my career and it is not in my best interest to go back to school again for a career change. I have way too much debt to pay off from my undergraduate and graduate degrees still (my as yet still useless school counselor degree, but that is another story) and with a child now is not a good time to go back to the classroom. I also don't have a strong enough desire to return to the classroom as a student. I basically take the two 3 hour classes I have to take every 5 years online to renew my teaching certificates, and I do that only because I am required to. It makes me wonder though...what would have been different if I had not become a teacher? Would I be where I am at now? I wouldn't want to change things in my life, as I have so many wonderful things now. It would be interesting to find out though. Guess I'll never know for sure.
Well, on to more important things, like spending time with Justin and McKenna. My time at home is quickly running short. Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
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