Hillary (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xlovebecomesher) wrote2017-06-05 11:58 pm
xlovebecomesher) wrote2017-06-05 11:58 pm
Entry tags:
LJ Idol Season 10: Open Topic
My mother told me I could be anything in the world; except a teacher. She told me I didn't have enough patience to ever be a teacher.
So many times, she'd tell me "Hold your horses, Hillary."
My response was always: "What horses, Mommy? I don't have any horses!" I'd giggle and she'd laugh. Sometimes she'd tell me she was going to the store and buy me patience. It was our running joke.
When I would think about being a teacher. I saw myself as a Kindergarten or First Grade teacher. I would think about how much I would love to work in a school (especially for the two hour delays and snow days).I couldn't picture myself working anywhere else. My mother would then remind me about not having patience and I would put the thought out of my mind.
I was never the child to play teacher with my Barbies; instead my Barbies went on dates and vacations and played doctor. I thought about being a doctor, a pedicatrician specificially, but then I thought about the blood and vomit; so I eliminated that option quickly. It was a lot more fun to play fake doctor than to be a real doctor!
I imagined being a veterinarian for a bit. I loved dogs and cats but then I thought about having to work on animals and that ended my dream of being a vet.
For a hot minute, I played around with the idea of being a podiatrist. My mom would come home from work and I would give her a foot massage with my doctor's kit. I'd write her a reciept charging her a thousand dollars and she'd tell me she'd owe me. I liked the idea until I thought about the amount of smelly feet I'd see on a regular basis and gagged.That was the end of me being a podiatrist.
I debated being a lawyer; I loved to argue and I figured with my father in and out of jail, it would behoove him to have a free lawyer on his side. But then I learned about how many hours lawyers bill and I realized I'd have no life outside of my job. Since I value a home/work balance, I decided against being a lawyer.
In middle school, I learned about special education; students who learn differently. All the students in the special education table in the lunchroom were in wheelchairs and I knew I didn't have it me to be a special education teacher especially because it took so much patience. When I told Mommy that night, she reminded me that night that I didn't have the patience to be a teacher and I swore I would never be a teacher especially not a special education teacher.
In high school, my friend introduced me to the idea of being a pediatric anesthesiologist which fascinated me. I could be a doctor and not have to deal with blood directly? Sign me up! However, I have no head for higher mathematics (as evidenced by my D in pre-calculus with trying my hardest) let alone the sciences. When I realized how much math and science I would have learn just to get into med school, I put that dream aside. That might of been for the best as I later on learned that anesthesiologists tend to have the highest rate of malpractice suits.
By the end of school, I had decided to major in psychology and become a child psychologist one day. I loved learning about psychology and I always wanted to help children who had gone through what I had gone through with having a parent in jail.
I wish someone had talked me out of psychology (or at the very least had a mother who told me I should never be a psychologist rather than never be a teacher). By my sophomore year of college, I realized I was never going to enjoy or have the patience to start my own practice and there's really not much you can do with psychology without a graduate degree. Maybe, had I stopped to think about the fact that I could have worked for a hospital, I would have become a psychologist regardless. But I didn't.
I thought about how I would really want to work in a school one day and learned about school psychology; it seemed like the perfect way to combine my love for both psychology and working in a school without having to be a teacher.
But then after college, despite my mother's warnings, I fell into teaching. The Friday before school started that school year, one of my closest friends called me. "Hillary, do you have a full time job yet?"
"No," I responded.
"I'm going to put my new boss on the phone; she desperately needs someone to fill the assistant teacher position. The person just quit today and school starts Monday. If you want it, the job is yours."
I spoke with her boss who immediately invited me in for an interview; an hour later I became the pre-k assistant teacher at a private school in D.C.
It was a learning curve; I had never worked in a classroom before but I was in love. It wasn't an easy job but I loved hearing what the students had to say. I was only there for a year but I felt like I had a purpose and that was working in the classroom with students.
Two years later, I was hired on as an assistant teacher at a school for children with learning disabilities. I've been there now for the past seven years; first as an assistant and later as a teacher.
That's right, I swore I was never going to be a teacher, let alone a special education teacher and here I am, a special education teacher with my master's degree in none other than special education with a focus in learning disabilities. Teaching a child to read is one of my biggest accomplishments in my life.
After four years of teaching, as of last week, I'm officially a fully certified teacher and after seven years at my job, I'm about to take a jump into a new teaching position next year at a new school.
People always comment to me when they find out that I'm a special education teacher, "you must have so much patience." My mother would laugh if she could hear that! She got a kick out of the idea that I became a teacher after all. I'm not the most patient person at all but at the end of day, I love what I do. Is it my dream career? Not at all. I dream of becoming an IEP coordinator, writing individualized education plans for students and attending meetings. I picture myself as a placement coordinator helping place students in the right school. I think of going back one day and becoming a school psychologist. But those are dreams for one day because right now? Right now, I am where I need to be - working with my students, teaching them to read, getting them ready for this world and giving them the tools they need to follow their dreams ...even if it is to be a teacher!
....
This was written for LJ Idol with the topic being Open Topic. I struggled coming up with a topic but I thought about the idea of writing about what you know and with the events of last week of getting a job offer and teacher certification, it seemed like a good idea to reflect on my path/unorthodox way of becoming a special education teacher. As I've learned in life, never say never!
So many times, she'd tell me "Hold your horses, Hillary."
My response was always: "What horses, Mommy? I don't have any horses!" I'd giggle and she'd laugh. Sometimes she'd tell me she was going to the store and buy me patience. It was our running joke.
When I would think about being a teacher. I saw myself as a Kindergarten or First Grade teacher. I would think about how much I would love to work in a school (especially for the two hour delays and snow days).I couldn't picture myself working anywhere else. My mother would then remind me about not having patience and I would put the thought out of my mind.
I was never the child to play teacher with my Barbies; instead my Barbies went on dates and vacations and played doctor. I thought about being a doctor, a pedicatrician specificially, but then I thought about the blood and vomit; so I eliminated that option quickly. It was a lot more fun to play fake doctor than to be a real doctor!
I imagined being a veterinarian for a bit. I loved dogs and cats but then I thought about having to work on animals and that ended my dream of being a vet.
For a hot minute, I played around with the idea of being a podiatrist. My mom would come home from work and I would give her a foot massage with my doctor's kit. I'd write her a reciept charging her a thousand dollars and she'd tell me she'd owe me. I liked the idea until I thought about the amount of smelly feet I'd see on a regular basis and gagged.That was the end of me being a podiatrist.
I debated being a lawyer; I loved to argue and I figured with my father in and out of jail, it would behoove him to have a free lawyer on his side. But then I learned about how many hours lawyers bill and I realized I'd have no life outside of my job. Since I value a home/work balance, I decided against being a lawyer.
In middle school, I learned about special education; students who learn differently. All the students in the special education table in the lunchroom were in wheelchairs and I knew I didn't have it me to be a special education teacher especially because it took so much patience. When I told Mommy that night, she reminded me that night that I didn't have the patience to be a teacher and I swore I would never be a teacher especially not a special education teacher.
In high school, my friend introduced me to the idea of being a pediatric anesthesiologist which fascinated me. I could be a doctor and not have to deal with blood directly? Sign me up! However, I have no head for higher mathematics (as evidenced by my D in pre-calculus with trying my hardest) let alone the sciences. When I realized how much math and science I would have learn just to get into med school, I put that dream aside. That might of been for the best as I later on learned that anesthesiologists tend to have the highest rate of malpractice suits.
By the end of school, I had decided to major in psychology and become a child psychologist one day. I loved learning about psychology and I always wanted to help children who had gone through what I had gone through with having a parent in jail.
I wish someone had talked me out of psychology (or at the very least had a mother who told me I should never be a psychologist rather than never be a teacher). By my sophomore year of college, I realized I was never going to enjoy or have the patience to start my own practice and there's really not much you can do with psychology without a graduate degree. Maybe, had I stopped to think about the fact that I could have worked for a hospital, I would have become a psychologist regardless. But I didn't.
I thought about how I would really want to work in a school one day and learned about school psychology; it seemed like the perfect way to combine my love for both psychology and working in a school without having to be a teacher.
But then after college, despite my mother's warnings, I fell into teaching. The Friday before school started that school year, one of my closest friends called me. "Hillary, do you have a full time job yet?"
"No," I responded.
"I'm going to put my new boss on the phone; she desperately needs someone to fill the assistant teacher position. The person just quit today and school starts Monday. If you want it, the job is yours."
I spoke with her boss who immediately invited me in for an interview; an hour later I became the pre-k assistant teacher at a private school in D.C.
It was a learning curve; I had never worked in a classroom before but I was in love. It wasn't an easy job but I loved hearing what the students had to say. I was only there for a year but I felt like I had a purpose and that was working in the classroom with students.
Two years later, I was hired on as an assistant teacher at a school for children with learning disabilities. I've been there now for the past seven years; first as an assistant and later as a teacher.
That's right, I swore I was never going to be a teacher, let alone a special education teacher and here I am, a special education teacher with my master's degree in none other than special education with a focus in learning disabilities. Teaching a child to read is one of my biggest accomplishments in my life.
After four years of teaching, as of last week, I'm officially a fully certified teacher and after seven years at my job, I'm about to take a jump into a new teaching position next year at a new school.
People always comment to me when they find out that I'm a special education teacher, "you must have so much patience." My mother would laugh if she could hear that! She got a kick out of the idea that I became a teacher after all. I'm not the most patient person at all but at the end of day, I love what I do. Is it my dream career? Not at all. I dream of becoming an IEP coordinator, writing individualized education plans for students and attending meetings. I picture myself as a placement coordinator helping place students in the right school. I think of going back one day and becoming a school psychologist. But those are dreams for one day because right now? Right now, I am where I need to be - working with my students, teaching them to read, getting them ready for this world and giving them the tools they need to follow their dreams ...even if it is to be a teacher!
....
This was written for LJ Idol with the topic being Open Topic. I struggled coming up with a topic but I thought about the idea of writing about what you know and with the events of last week of getting a job offer and teacher certification, it seemed like a good idea to reflect on my path/unorthodox way of becoming a special education teacher. As I've learned in life, never say never!