Blog Post #10 - Choices

High school students are asked from the age of 17-18 about what they want to do in life.

Choose whether you want to attend college, university (or perhaps neither).
Choose which university or college. Choose the program you want to study.

From an early age, I've wanted to become a teacher. Then I wanted to become an engineer, an astronaut, a programmer, go into multimedia, a writer, and even envisioned a career in the video game industry. And then I wanted to become a teacher again. Why did I choose to become a teacher?

Truth is, I still don't know whether I fully want to become a teacher. I've been "teaching" from the age of 12, assisting instructors in Jiu-Jitsu, swimming, and later becoming a teacher/instructor of my own.  I want to make a difference in childrens' lives. But just as Joel Westheimer mentioned in our Schooling in Society class last year, new teachers enter in Act III. The story is set and all I can do is go with the flow.

We tell students they can become whatever they want. The world is their oyster! They can choose to become whoever, and whatever they want. Frankly, I feel like I only had one: teaching. I never got the grades to pursue sciences in high school (that shut the door for engineer/astronaut). The multimedia and the video game industry are so competitive nowadays, and you need a really good idea/creativity to become a writer.

At the same time, I am not becoming any younger. I need a piece of paper to pursue my life and make money to live. I think teaching gives me a certain amount of freedom and flexibility. The area of Education is quite large. I can teach whatever subject, go into counselling or administration. Additionally, summers and other time not dedicated to course preparation, evaluation or professional development can be invested in my hobbies and interests.

I suppose my fear is not pursuing something I truly love. Don't get the wrong idea. I have been teaching for quite some time and really enjoy it. But I also really enjoy technology (I think this is the sole reason I've pursued writing about technology throughout my Master's). I really enjoy content creation, whether it be playing with Adobe After Effects / Photoshop or YouTube content. I've been an avid gamer for a large portion of my life, which leaves me wondering why I didn't choose to pursue something in those areas?

Was it because I was told it's a hobby and I wouldn't amount to anything in life by sitting around playing video games (which proves to be untrue, some people make a living by doing exactly that)? Was it because I feared of losing that special "something" from my hobby? Was it because I thought I wasn't "good enough" to become an engineer, astronaut, or a graphic designer?

I am excited to see what my future holds in Education. But I also hope I won't get sick of it in 5-10 years, and end up regretting not going into something I might hold more to heart.