Gotta explain myself

In a recent post, I revealed that I had never wanted to be a teacher when I was younger because of all the marking that I saw my parents doing.

I need to clarify that I absolutely loooove my job and that I wouldn't wish to be anything else, except maybe on maternity leave for a bit. I'll explain a little more about how I fell into this marvelous profession just so that you don't go on thinking that I dread going to work every day, because I don't. I love it. I think about my students all the time and the things that we can explore together.

Anyhow, back in the day, I was a young woman with a serious sports interest. I wanted to be in a profession that involved people and I was smart and liked school.

Career choice #1 (in high school )- physiotherapy

I went to university in my hometown and took first year sciences with a little psychology and sports studies and statistics because those were the requirements for the big schools where I could pursue physio. I also played basketball. I really enjoyed it and I also wasn't feeling ready to move away from home. I decided to stay another year in Kamloops and started to think that maybe I would like to pursue a career in medicine, or maybe nursing.

Career choice #2 (during first year university) - nursing

So, I enrolled in some courses, for my second year, that would allow me to support a career in nursing. I also enrolled in a couple courses of interest, physics which I had enjoyed in high school, because I was only a few requirements short of nursing and I was curious about other interests. Then, I landed a summer job teaching science camps at my university (and fell in love with Justin). Teaching. For a job. The thing that I didn't want to do, right? Well, it turns out that, despite my low work performance that year that didn't get me hired back, I loved teaching. I loved talking about stuff with kids and seeing the excitement we could share about cool stuff. I loved watching them discover and figure out neat stuff that they could do.

Career choice #3 (end of summer after my first year) - a physics teacher, like my Daddy

I took that year of physics and also the human anatomy stuff. Physics wasn't really as interesting as I had hoped it would be. I mean, I enjoyed it and I did really well, but it just didn't make me want to keep learning and keep discovering, part of teaching that I was attracted to. So, I decided to pursue a biology degree instead, animal biology to be exact.

Career choice #4 (mid-second year university) - science teacher (maybe Biology)

After selecting my favourites from the available animal biology courses for my following years in university, I loved every minute. It was terrific. I was still playing basketball, learning about stuff that I loved and having fun. I don't remember how I can back to elementary tecahing, but I think it must have been spending some time in my Mom's class, as a guest, and volunteering in a grade 2 class, as well.

Career choice #5 (finally, in third year) - elementary teacher

After that point, I moved out on my own, finished off the courses that I wanted to in order to fulfill my animal biology requirements and tried to get some other courses to fill in for elementary education admission. I had to take some lower level Canadian Content and such, so I opted to take a fifth year of university and pursue my degree with honours, completing a research project, at the same time as my last year of university courses. I researched the wintering swan populations on the South Thompson River and completed my degree, with honours, in 2003.

Then, J and I were married and we moved so that we could pursue our teaching degrees, and be together, he with Secondary and I with Elementary. Today, I'm so happy with my choices. I really enjoyed getting the chance to experience more of the courses available at university and I'm so happy with where I have ended up. I love my classes and have had some very trying and many very rewarding experiences so far. Good times!