My thoughts lately have been about school, college specifically. I am thinking of going back for my bachelors. Since I was little I remember wanting to be a teacher or a nurse. Then in 10th grade when I decided to pursue God's plan for my life, I wanted to be a missionary. I visited colleges for missionary training. They suggested you have another occupation, almost like a James Bond secret agent "cover story" to get in to sensitive countries that would not allow or maybe would not encourage missionaries.
Although I still had a desire to be a teacher, I pictured a teacher in the US from some faraway place like Uruguay with a heavy accent, and I thought, that would be me in another country. Just like a teacher in the US with a heavy accent and limited knowledge of English would be unlikely to be hired here, I figured going to school for teaching with the idea of teaching overseas was a bit of a waste. Even if I learned the language, I would probably need an interpreter to help me, 8 hours a day to do my job. That's just an inconvenience...cost to me, tiring for the intrepreter. Anyways.
At these colleges they also encouraged medical missions. I wanted to help people so it seemed a natural course. I enrolled in EMT classes to train to become an EMT, which after finishing about 75% of the course, I learned that to get hired, you need to agree to pursue a license as a medic, Paramedic that is. Two more years of school in something I wasn't loving too much anyway. Sigh. But I finished the program at least.
I still remember sitting at a fire station on what we called "ride alongs" waiting for the siren to go off that we had a call, I was just reading a homework assignment, and I remember thinking "I don't think I want to do this, I want to be in full time ministry."
Although that is still my desire, I have come to discover over the last two years that it is ok to be in ministry and have another job. It might be a bit more challenging, but for me, it is nice to have one other element in my life, almost like an extra curricular activity. :) Hats off and kudos kudos kudos to stay at home moms, but I just don't enjoy ALL that time at home, I like some good ME time.
I really liked being a secretary when I worked for Mount Hope, but I left there when Annabelle was 8 months old because I just couldn't be away from her. When I had Juliette and she turned about 10 months old, with two toddlers at home I was like "Mommy needs a time out!" The thought of paying a babysitter so I could pay a gym membership or pay for an art class seemed silly to me, I thought "if I'm gonna pay someone to take care of my kids, I would like to at least earn some money", so I went back to work. :)
I am now working a part time job as a registration clerk for a hospital. It is a good job, but I would like to have a degree; for earning power. :)
I started to think again about how much I enjoyed being a secretary, and thought, maybe I can go to school to be a secretary that makes good money, like a legal secretary. But the more I thought about that idea the more I realized how a full time day job would mean less and less time with my kids, and I thought....maybe that's not it.
Working for a hospital is great because I can work part time and still get benefits, and I have learned a few things about myself.
I prefer to only work part time, so that I still have time to spend with my kids. I know that teachers work full time, but with weekends, holidays, and summers off, I would pretty much be home all the time that my kids are (once everyone is school aged). I understand that I would need time to grade papers and create lesson plans, but I have two ideas for this. One, someone recently told me the first year or so is a lot, but once you get "in the groove" its pretty much autopilot. And if you think that sounds lazy, my second thought is this: even though I'll need to spend time at home, I can decide when that time is, ie when the kids are in bed, or doing their homework (ha ha right?), or early in the morning (eesh). But the point is, I can decide when those hours are, not my employer.
I've also learned that I like to be home with my infants until they are about 10-12 months old. My thought is to get at least started on my degree (I have my associates, but I still have probably 2.5 to 3 years to go) and get to 90 credit hours so I can substitute teach. Depending on when that happens, maybe do that for a little while, and then have another baby. :) Then take my year, and bonus as a sustitute you have the option of yes or no when they call you, so who knows, maybe a day here and there won't be as hard as a steady job, even if the baby is not 10 months old yet. Then keep working on school, finish up, be a teacher! Hip hip hooray!
A big part of my reason for wanting to become a teacher comes out of my desire to help people, specifically children. When I was working at Mount Hope I was also volunteering there in the Childrens Department, and I miss that so much. I also left doing that when I had Annabelle, but that I left just before she was born. So it has been 3 years, wow. When I look back on that time, it was definately one of the highlights of my life, and part of that I think was the time I spent with those kids.
I am thinking of teaching math, and if you know me you are thinking "excuse me miss 2.0 in college algebra, how do you expect to do that" or "I seem to remember you failing 3 years of high school math", well another thing I have figured out is that I CAN do or learn just about anything I really want to learn.
I didn't really care to try in high school, I distinctly remember my math teacher one time scolding me that I had a question on a lesson we had covered earlier in the week, and I remember sort of giving up then. I remember another time a boy in my class sobbing because he just did not understand what the teacher was trying to explain. And I thought "how embarrassing, I don't get it either but I'm just going to pretend not to care". I remember spending 5 minutes on an assignment my teacher said should take 30, and thinking "I can't do this, I'll just copy the odd numbered answers out of the back, guess at the rest, and hopefully I won't fail the assignment". Well, all that to say, my goal is to help kids understand that math is not beyond their understanding. That they can understand this problem, this lesson, they can figure it out. It may not come as easily to them as it does for some other kids, but that does not mean it is out of their reach or that they are just never meant to understant it. It can get easier for them, if they are willing to try. It is ok not to understand, it is ok to ask questions, I was the dumb kid once too, and look where I am.
Also the reps at Baker College told me that female teachers of Math and Science are in high demand because not many females go into that, and school districts are looking for good female role models to get more girls to be interested in pursuing careers in math and science.
So even though the economy is no less than drab, and even though its probably gonna take me a couple years, I am really excited about the possibilities, and I can't wait to schedule a visit with Spring Arbor.
I still remember sitting at a fire station on what we called "ride alongs" waiting for the siren to go off that we had a call, I was just reading a homework assignment, and I remember thinking "I don't think I want to do this, I want to be in full time ministry."
Although that is still my desire, I have come to discover over the last two years that it is ok to be in ministry and have another job. It might be a bit more challenging, but for me, it is nice to have one other element in my life, almost like an extra curricular activity. :) Hats off and kudos kudos kudos to stay at home moms, but I just don't enjoy ALL that time at home, I like some good ME time.
I really liked being a secretary when I worked for Mount Hope, but I left there when Annabelle was 8 months old because I just couldn't be away from her. When I had Juliette and she turned about 10 months old, with two toddlers at home I was like "Mommy needs a time out!" The thought of paying a babysitter so I could pay a gym membership or pay for an art class seemed silly to me, I thought "if I'm gonna pay someone to take care of my kids, I would like to at least earn some money", so I went back to work. :)
I am now working a part time job as a registration clerk for a hospital. It is a good job, but I would like to have a degree; for earning power. :)
I started to think again about how much I enjoyed being a secretary, and thought, maybe I can go to school to be a secretary that makes good money, like a legal secretary. But the more I thought about that idea the more I realized how a full time day job would mean less and less time with my kids, and I thought....maybe that's not it.
Working for a hospital is great because I can work part time and still get benefits, and I have learned a few things about myself.
I prefer to only work part time, so that I still have time to spend with my kids. I know that teachers work full time, but with weekends, holidays, and summers off, I would pretty much be home all the time that my kids are (once everyone is school aged). I understand that I would need time to grade papers and create lesson plans, but I have two ideas for this. One, someone recently told me the first year or so is a lot, but once you get "in the groove" its pretty much autopilot. And if you think that sounds lazy, my second thought is this: even though I'll need to spend time at home, I can decide when that time is, ie when the kids are in bed, or doing their homework (ha ha right?), or early in the morning (eesh). But the point is, I can decide when those hours are, not my employer.
I've also learned that I like to be home with my infants until they are about 10-12 months old. My thought is to get at least started on my degree (I have my associates, but I still have probably 2.5 to 3 years to go) and get to 90 credit hours so I can substitute teach. Depending on when that happens, maybe do that for a little while, and then have another baby. :) Then take my year, and bonus as a sustitute you have the option of yes or no when they call you, so who knows, maybe a day here and there won't be as hard as a steady job, even if the baby is not 10 months old yet. Then keep working on school, finish up, be a teacher! Hip hip hooray!
A big part of my reason for wanting to become a teacher comes out of my desire to help people, specifically children. When I was working at Mount Hope I was also volunteering there in the Childrens Department, and I miss that so much. I also left doing that when I had Annabelle, but that I left just before she was born. So it has been 3 years, wow. When I look back on that time, it was definately one of the highlights of my life, and part of that I think was the time I spent with those kids.
I am thinking of teaching math, and if you know me you are thinking "excuse me miss 2.0 in college algebra, how do you expect to do that" or "I seem to remember you failing 3 years of high school math", well another thing I have figured out is that I CAN do or learn just about anything I really want to learn.
I didn't really care to try in high school, I distinctly remember my math teacher one time scolding me that I had a question on a lesson we had covered earlier in the week, and I remember sort of giving up then. I remember another time a boy in my class sobbing because he just did not understand what the teacher was trying to explain. And I thought "how embarrassing, I don't get it either but I'm just going to pretend not to care". I remember spending 5 minutes on an assignment my teacher said should take 30, and thinking "I can't do this, I'll just copy the odd numbered answers out of the back, guess at the rest, and hopefully I won't fail the assignment". Well, all that to say, my goal is to help kids understand that math is not beyond their understanding. That they can understand this problem, this lesson, they can figure it out. It may not come as easily to them as it does for some other kids, but that does not mean it is out of their reach or that they are just never meant to understant it. It can get easier for them, if they are willing to try. It is ok not to understand, it is ok to ask questions, I was the dumb kid once too, and look where I am.
Also the reps at Baker College told me that female teachers of Math and Science are in high demand because not many females go into that, and school districts are looking for good female role models to get more girls to be interested in pursuing careers in math and science.
So even though the economy is no less than drab, and even though its probably gonna take me a couple years, I am really excited about the possibilities, and I can't wait to schedule a visit with Spring Arbor.
Natalie I think you will make a great teacher. I think it is great that you are going to go back to school. It really is making my brain work and I actually really like it.
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