when i grow up...

I have been asked that question too many times. Besides wanting to become a mailman woman or a librarian, a lifelong dream of mine is to become a teacher. As the years have passed, teaching is still a dream. And I often answer with that question with teaching because it's something I've been told I'd be good at and something that is easy to answer with. But while it isn't something I'm opposed to, I'm not sure if I really want to do it. Does that make sense?



So I've had other possible career aspirations come now and then (besides the two I mentioned--which there's NOTHING wrong with, it's just not a dream of mine anymore). And oddly enough, two of them come from television shows (TV does teach stuff!).

After watching the oh-so-controversial 16 and Pregnant/Teen Mom series (Yes, I watch it, and yes, I actually think it's a truthful show. But I do not support the drama it creates), I've wanted to do something to help teen parents in some way. Don't ask me why. But there's something about them needing help and support because they often lack it during this time in their life. The only downfall is that I don't know what I'd actually do. I mean, what kind of careers are there? And then there's the whole DRAMA thing. Maybe it's just on reality TV. But I don't really deal with that so well. And I don't really know how I would connect with them because I've never been in the situation before. But I'm good at listening and just about everyone needs to be listened to!



The second TV inspired career aspiration is from Parenthood. It's a tiebreaker with Criminal Minds for my favorite TV show (Weird combination of shows, eh?). Anyway, I'm inspired by how Gaby works with Max. Yes, I realize this is a TV show, but I've always been interested in learning more about Autism and Asperger's. I've worked a little little bit with preschoolers with Autism and it's such a learning experience for me and I REALLY love it. So there's another option.

In high school, I took a child development class which was to say the least, an AMAZING experience. So, as I've mentioned before, teaching is/will always be an option. I think I would want to be a teacher more if they were paid fairly for all the work they put in. I mean, teachers shouldn't be taking money out of their own pockets to pay for books for their students! When did that become acceptable? And with all of the budget cuts and school closures lately, it's scary to enter in this profession. And then there's teacher burnout. I know I'm strong, but it's scary to think of what could happen to you as a first-year teacher. But on the upside, I love reading and would love to bring reading back and make it cool again.

There are other options I've considered and written about in my journal but I think I'd make everyone fall asleep leave this blog and never return again if I wrote about them all. Did I mention I'm indecisive?