My dream career is to be a middle or high school orchestra (or even band) director. That's all. I've decided that I would like to be a teacher more than anything else in the world even though it means that I will probably never drive a Ferrari or live in a mansion. To me, being able to share my passion for music and hopefully give a similar love to my students is so much better than being financially wealthy. I was convinced that I would never be a teacher for the longest time, mostly because both of my parents are teachers and they warned me of the hardships of the life of a teacher - a life that is uphill both ways in the freezing rain and driving snow. A life that is riddled with financial difficulties. A life that will leave you frustrated and exhausted. But they also inspired me with stories of a life filled with rewarding moments and poignant relationships with students that make all of the burdens so very unimportant.
The decision to become a teacher came after much struggle and tears on my part. Yes, I am now ashamed to say that I kicked and screamed all the way up to the very first violin lesson I taught. My violin teacher had referred me to some of her students in the Suzuki class at school, whose mother had asked about extra help with violin during the week. She gave my name to this family, and when the girls' mom called me for the first time, I feigned excitement and secretly dreaded having to "deal with" two squirmy kids for a whole hour. I was already bogged down with loads of schoolwork, and I was stressed out over the million things that seem to take over a junior's life, and I was not eager to take on another big responsibility. Besides, I wanted to become a forensic psychologist, saving the day with my extraordinary powers of perception and busting criminals willy nilly. But, alas, I was committed and decided to tough it out.
I went to that first lesson, and my life changed. I worked with both of the sisters for thirty minutes each and each of them made noticeable progress. Much to my surprise, I felt so proud of them and even of myself, even though I'd only known them for an hour. It felt good to know that I'd made a difference and showed the girls just how amazing playing the violin could be. At the end of the grading period, Mom showed me the girls' report cards, and they had each gone up two letter grades in violin performance. After that, all thoughts of criminology and microexpressions vanished from my mind, and were replaced with ideas for sticker charts and bribes and learning new songs. The more I taught and the more students I took on, the more I enjoyed teaching and even learning from my students. The best part of all was that, unlike the excitement I used to feel at the thought of even the possibility solving crime, my "teacher buzz" did not easily wear off. I decided that this was enough to last the rest of my life.
So, that is how I came to want to teach. I realize that it is not the easiest of careers, and that I will have some financial juggling to do, and that my students may cause me more sleepless nights than not, but I am perfectly at peace with trudging uphill both ways in the freezing rain and driving snow, every day, for the rest of my life...
And as for the geographic dreams thing, there's only one place that I want to be, and this will become more and more apparent the more you spend time with me...
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| (And, yes, I'm for real. Scotland. Is. My. Love.) |
