I am 21-year old college senior, whose diverse skill set includes chicken sandwich-selling, balloon-tying, birthday party-hosting, Law and Order-watching, and incident report-writing. In May, I will graduate with a degree in Elementary Education, after completing countless hours of field experience in local school districts. I have loved my time spent inside the classroom working with young students, as well as outside of school; camp counseling, volunteering with the GSEA, and most recently, as an employee of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Watching students learn and grow is amazing and it brings me great joy.
Yet...
Several of my friends, many of whom have been my closest peers during my time at Geneva, have wanted to be teachers since they were small children themselves. From a young age, they found their calling. That's a really wonderful, terrific thing. And not just because Geneva places such a great emphasis on the idea of calling, but because they are so assured that they have chosen a path which will bring them contentment and peace for many years to come.
I am completely jealous of these friends, and any other person for that matter, who feels similarly. Because I'm not there yet.
Don't get me wrong, I have loved every one of my classes, classmates, and professors. But, I am not sure that I would bring as much enthuasium and passion to a classroom of my own, as a teacher should to best benefit their children. And maybe sense of unsureness is just simply fear; fear of not finding a teaching job post graduation, fear of not being challenged to continue to mature, and most simply, the fear of no longer finding joy in working with children.
But I also know this:
Many, many people graduate with degrees in one field, and then later find their calling in another. Ina Garten, who is a card-carrying member of my hero club, mostly because of her hilarious, yet oddly calming, television show, was a nuclear policy analyst in the White House working with several presidents, before she began teaching viewers how to make chocolate ganache cupcakes on the Food Network.
Am I on that path? Probably not. But I am keeping my options open. And in the process, learning how to make awesome chocolate cupcakes, with no hint of the word, fondant, in the recipe.
Even though my future does not involve a popular cooking show or personally advising the POTUS, I know there something is out there for me. And I will wait patiently until God reveals my next step, whether it be a teaching job, graduate school, or selling popsicles at Disney World. My only prayer is that I continue to find joy, knowing that my future, my life, is in the hands of an Almighty Creator.
Several of my friends, many of whom have been my closest peers during my time at Geneva, have wanted to be teachers since they were small children themselves. From a young age, they found their calling. That's a really wonderful, terrific thing. And not just because Geneva places such a great emphasis on the idea of calling, but because they are so assured that they have chosen a path which will bring them contentment and peace for many years to come.
I am completely jealous of these friends, and any other person for that matter, who feels similarly. Because I'm not there yet.
Don't get me wrong, I have loved every one of my classes, classmates, and professors. But, I am not sure that I would bring as much enthuasium and passion to a classroom of my own, as a teacher should to best benefit their children. And maybe sense of unsureness is just simply fear; fear of not finding a teaching job post graduation, fear of not being challenged to continue to mature, and most simply, the fear of no longer finding joy in working with children.
But I also know this:
Many, many people graduate with degrees in one field, and then later find their calling in another. Ina Garten, who is a card-carrying member of my hero club, mostly because of her hilarious, yet oddly calming, television show, was a nuclear policy analyst in the White House working with several presidents, before she began teaching viewers how to make chocolate ganache cupcakes on the Food Network.
Am I on that path? Probably not. But I am keeping my options open. And in the process, learning how to make awesome chocolate cupcakes, with no hint of the word, fondant, in the recipe.
Even though my future does not involve a popular cooking show or personally advising the POTUS, I know there something is out there for me. And I will wait patiently until God reveals my next step, whether it be a teaching job, graduate school, or selling popsicles at Disney World. My only prayer is that I continue to find joy, knowing that my future, my life, is in the hands of an Almighty Creator.
