Almost everyone who might possibly read this blog knows that I went to school to become a teacher. My main focus at IU was elementary education, but when I moved back to Cincinnati, I picked up my pre-kindergarten certification as well. A year of teaching preschool made me realize that perhaps high school would be a better fit, so I enrolled at Xavier to pursue a 7-12 license in Integrated Language Arts, and a graduate degree to boot.
So now I'm licensed PK-12, the market is as terrible as it ever was, teacher salaries and benefits are at an all-time low, and I oftentimes feel my passion for teaching slowly ebbing away.
Luckily, throughout my time at XU I had a great job working on Saturdays at a physician's office where my dad just happened to be the physician. I learned new skills, was allowed to work independently, and truly felt like I had accomplished something at the end of each day. When more hours became available at the office (coincidentally at the end of my final semester at Xavier), I felt super blessed to be able to hop right into a job I liked, with a boss I loved. (And I'm not just saying that because my dad is the only "follower" of this blog, haha.) The thing I like about my job the most is that while I do have daily tasks to accomplish, I also have a series of projects that have a definite start and end point. I feel successful when I complete a project, and I feel like the work I do makes a specific difference in the running of the office, which leads me to think -- Next year, when I'm not pregnant anymore and Gavin will be nearly 7 months old, will I make an effort to return to teaching? Or instead, continue to train myself and pursue a future career in office management?
There are definite things I love about teaching. I love children. I love the opportunity to use creativity in my day-to-day activities. I love seeing students grow and develop as a result of a lesson or unit I've put together. But I fully believe that I will get that same satisfaction from seeing my own child(ren) learn -- in fact, Stephen and I spent the whole afternoon today at Barnes and Noble choosing children's books to read to our son. I believe that the things I love about being a teacher will also be the things I love about being a mother. And really, office administration and teaching have a surprising amount in common. My job is social, and I spend all day talking to co-workers and patients. My job involves other people, but it also involves a striking amount of independent work (which I tend to prefer). Everyone has their own specific role in the functioning of the office, just as teachers oftentimes collaborate while at the same time running their own classrooms. The hours are good, the environment is welcoming, the work is satisfying, and there is room for growth. What more could you ask for, really?
My first few years post-college, I dealt with a lot of coulda-woulda-shoulda feelings. What if I had stayed in Bloomington and taught there? What if I had more actively pursued substitute teaching in Cincinnati? What if I had opted to student teach as part of my secondary education program, despite the fact that it wasn't required? Ultimately, there were a lot of forks in the road where I could've made different choices, but at the end of the day, I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing right now, and I'm excited to see what kind of professional path it could lead me down.
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