Sunday, January 9, 2011

When I Grow Up

I was reading a dear friend's blog the other day and she mentioned that one of her New Year's Resolution's is to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. My friend is 26. I smiled as I read, simply because I've been thinking the same thing as of late-"What do I want to be when I grow up?" It's a question that we wonder about for years. We play pretend and imagine we're putting out fires or giving people needles. The possibilities are endless when you're little. You could be a doctor, a construction worker or a tiger! As you grow older, you realize you get queasy around blood, manual labor doesn't appeal to you and that life as a tiger isn't as glamorous as you once thought. Your interests begin to narrow and you start thinking about what you'd really like to do in life.

For years, I thought I destined to be a teacher. At the same time, I was interested in speech pathology, sign language and writing. In recent years, I completed my teaching degree and thought it was a pretty straightforward path from there. Get a teaching job at a great elementary school, teach for many years and retire as the greatest teacher ever. :) How wrong I was. After struggling for two years as a substitute teacher, and wondering how in world the school system works, I have begun to question what I want to be when I grow up. The 'working with kids' part has not changed-I love kids and love hanging out with them but I'm beginning to wonder what else I could do with my degree.

Over the past couple years, I have become heavily involved in the youth group at my church. I love it. Hanging out on Friday night with those teens is often the highlight of my week. I love it so much, it's made me question if I should be headed into full time youth ministry.

I have also intensely enjoyed my job at Chapters
as it has increased my love for books, children's books in particular. The idea of being a children's librarian sounds like heaven to me!

Through all of these recent developments, I still love the thought of being a teacher, specifically to deaf and hard of hearing kids!

I have so many things that I'm passionate about, it's hard to know what direction I should head in. What should I be when I grow up? I was talking with my friend who's thinking about that same question, I asked "Wouldn't it just be easier if you hated everything except for this one job which you love and just happened to be especially skilled at?"

It'd be easier, but probably a lot less fun. :)

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