I attended a graduation ceremony this weekend for my lovely cousin who completed her studies to become a teacher (Go Emily!) and in the moment, the speech shared by the keynote felt trite and way. too. long.
But after letting that speech and the sentiments marinate for a bit, I feel the speech was not only appropriate, but quite 'catchy.' The gist of the speech left the audience with three questions to consider in life. Seems little cheesy at the get-go but after hearing the message, I truly think this man had the message of reflection in mind with his speech & I sat in the US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, WI with a light bulb above my pretty little head.
This week I’ll be sharing the questions with you and seeking your thoughts…
What do you want to be when you grow up?For me this question hit home because my dear friend Megan and I have been asking each other this question for the past two years and as scary as it can be, I’m not sure I know the answer yet. When I was a child, I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in college, I wanted to be a teacher. Then I became a teacher and saw the opportunity to affect more than just 20 children with my knowledge and passion. I dove into a position as the mentor for our teachers and have enjoyed the challenge so greatly that I now wonder how to make an even bigger impact. It’s important that we keep growing, keep pushing ourselves and find the tasks that require us to do something greater than we ever imagined we could. It’s easy to settle into the comfortable and put ourselves on auto-pilot; but imagine what you could be missing! Don’t settle for ordinary.
So, the obvious next question here is simple. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mi amiga querida, I am still trying to figure this one out. Fortunately I am in a position to be able to sort through my skills and passions while in grad school. Though I miss my classroom at the moment, it's mostly because nannying is a different environment, not because I really want to be a classroom teacher anymore.
ReplyDeleteI did attend a workshop on the importance of play at the Field Museum this weekend and it was facilitated by (an Erikson Alum) who was a curriculum/early childhood consultant for the museums and my desire to work in nontraditional education was renewed.