I always choose the wee hours of the morning to post...
I've been home alone with my thoughts all this week, and let me tell you, I WAS BORED AS HELL. When I was in high school I had the most vivid dream of my life. I won't get into detail, but the one thing it left me with was the feeling that the number 27 is somehow important (in a bad way) in my life. I'm coming up on year 26 and it kind of scares me that 27 isn't all that far behind/ahead of that. I'm freaked out about being a dad (Autumn is due in May) but more than that, I'm freaked out about possibly leaving my family behind because of some freak accident I predicted years ago. It could be something minor, I know, but I just have this icky feeling about what might happen. I also might be projecting my fear of parenthood and the change it brings onto my unconscious brain and it appears to me as the fear of death at 27. Where the hell is someone with one of those 'Dream Books' when you need one?
I've also been devoting a lot of my free time to reconsidering my vocation. I have a theory: all people are born genetically predisposed for one job/profession over another. Some people have good hand/eye coordination and those are the musicians, doctors, athletes, etc. Some people have a heightened sense of awareness and those people are race car drivers, airplane pilots, etc. Keeping this theory in mind, I tried to label all of the traits I have in order to make better sense of what I should be doing in life, as teaching is not cracking up to be what I thought it would. Here's my list:
1. I learn quickly
2. I like talking to people
3. I'm fairly patient
4. I'm large (height, as I've been losing weight)
5. I cannot hope to be tan in my lifetime
6. I have a habit of thinking things to death and then beating them with the proverbial two by four when I should have long ago forgotten about said thing
7. I have a passion for most things 'art'
8. I like good books
9. I can't stand bad music (as in out of tune; as long as it's in tune, I'm usually okay)
10. I have an appreciation for old/vintage/antique things
So what does a person with this particular set of life skills do for a living? Apparently that person is cut out to be a 7th grade language arts teacher. But the thing is is that I don't think that that is what I was meant to be. Sure I like language and I like talking to people, but when the people you are talking to would rather be at home texting their boy-/girlfriend, playing XBox live, and creating MySpace profiles, do you really need to keep talking? What's the point? I always hear 'they'll appreciate your work in the future,' but I need someone who will appreciate my work now so I don't feel like such a failure as a teacher. Perhaps I need to transition back to high school, but I hate grading papers with the utmost passion, so there is that downside no matter what I do. I'm really at a loss. I am going to keep with teaching, as it is one of the only jobs I've heard of that has any sort of job security if you've been teaching for more than a couple of years. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll get that dream job and get paid a salary that is more indicative of my work and my dedication. Maybe then I'll be able to put more away for my kids' college so they won't leave with as much debt as I did.
If anybody has a suggestion, feel free to drop me a line. Send it to my email address or just leave the note here. I'll read both, I promise.
Stig,
Drew
I've also been devoting a lot of my free time to reconsidering my vocation. I have a theory: all people are born genetically predisposed for one job/profession over another. Some people have good hand/eye coordination and those are the musicians, doctors, athletes, etc. Some people have a heightened sense of awareness and those people are race car drivers, airplane pilots, etc. Keeping this theory in mind, I tried to label all of the traits I have in order to make better sense of what I should be doing in life, as teaching is not cracking up to be what I thought it would. Here's my list:
1. I learn quickly
2. I like talking to people
3. I'm fairly patient
4. I'm large (height, as I've been losing weight)
5. I cannot hope to be tan in my lifetime
6. I have a habit of thinking things to death and then beating them with the proverbial two by four when I should have long ago forgotten about said thing
7. I have a passion for most things 'art'
8. I like good books
9. I can't stand bad music (as in out of tune; as long as it's in tune, I'm usually okay)
10. I have an appreciation for old/vintage/antique things
So what does a person with this particular set of life skills do for a living? Apparently that person is cut out to be a 7th grade language arts teacher. But the thing is is that I don't think that that is what I was meant to be. Sure I like language and I like talking to people, but when the people you are talking to would rather be at home texting their boy-/girlfriend, playing XBox live, and creating MySpace profiles, do you really need to keep talking? What's the point? I always hear 'they'll appreciate your work in the future,' but I need someone who will appreciate my work now so I don't feel like such a failure as a teacher. Perhaps I need to transition back to high school, but I hate grading papers with the utmost passion, so there is that downside no matter what I do. I'm really at a loss. I am going to keep with teaching, as it is one of the only jobs I've heard of that has any sort of job security if you've been teaching for more than a couple of years. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll get that dream job and get paid a salary that is more indicative of my work and my dedication. Maybe then I'll be able to put more away for my kids' college so they won't leave with as much debt as I did.
If anybody has a suggestion, feel free to drop me a line. Send it to my email address or just leave the note here. I'll read both, I promise.
Stig,
Drew