Interrupting the book reviews for a little chitchat time. As my time as a college students is almost ending (T-3 months till graduation 🥂), I think it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. What’s next?

It’s a pretty straight forward answer: I have no clue.

Okay, not entirely true but also not entirely wrong. I’m in the midst of job searching and getting interviews while also trying to keep up with school. A few months ago I posted a blog called You don’t know what you want to do in Your 20s where I talk about not knowing what you want to do in college is normal. At the time, I was juggling a lot of different options for what I wanted to do and pushing many other ones to the side. It wasn’t long after posting that blog that I truly decided what I wanted to do.

The Job: Teaching!

Teaching is something I’ve always had in the back of mind. When I was a senior in high school I unfortunately had a few teachers discourage me from going down that path. When they heard I was planning to study english their response was, “You don’t want to teach right?”. In their defense, they blamed the environment teachers were facing at the time, but now 5 years later I find myself only want to teach. I can’t say I remember what it was like for them 5 years ago, but I find myself conflicted with that reaction. At the time, I didn’t think I would ever teach because I lacked any form of confidence.

I was the shy kid in class whose heart leapt out of her chest of she was called on. It took me ages to work up the courage to raise my hand and when I finally did the opportunity passed. I struggled with tests, and struggled to seek help from teachers. I was an athletic kid that struggled to focus in class and definitely didn’t get enough sleep at night. I never liked school because I was practically paralyzed with anxiety and was unknowingly having anxiety attacks in the hallways my senior year. I dreaded going to school because I felt insignificant in a large school.

All of these things inspire and push me to teach. I want my classroom to be a positive and welcoming environment for students to enter into. One where asking questions is encouraged, seeking answers is important, and expanding students skills and knowledge is prioritized.

Now, I didn’t study English Education and haven’t done student teaching. In truth: there’s a lot of hurdles I’ll have to overcome and experiences I need to gain. A nontraditional path means it isn’t a straightforward pathway to getting a job. Naturally, that’s something you have to accept right away because you have to face the reality of being turned down. I’ll admit, I thought I accepted this much sooner than I actually had. It’s true that sometimes you have to get knocked down to get back up.

I’m beyond excited for the path I’m finding myself on and the future it holds for me. So, yes I really don’t know where I’ll land, but I do know it’ll be somewhere in the teaching field. These last 2 months of school are bound to be the most stressful ones. There will be a lot of rejection, some acceptance, many hellos, and even more goodbyes.

Stay sane, and smile often.

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