What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

'What do you want to be when you grow up?' The BIGGER QUESTION. A question that every teacher asks and every child seeks to answer and fulfill. That's the question we're asked to decide our education paths in high school and college as well. When I was younger, I never wanted to be any of the stereotypical things. I went through two stages: scientist and educator. 

Until I was 13, I wanted to do almost everything that had to do with science. I wanted to be a Geologist or Ecologist until I was 8, Astronomer from ages 8-10, and Marine Biologist from birth to 14. It is still something I have considered. I lived in the backwoods of Pennsylvania until I was 10, and found so much that fueled my love for the sciences in everything around around me. The quartz deposits in Chickie's Rock, the owls that circled my house, the stars, the whales and dolphins I saw when I went whale-watching with my aunt & uncle in Maine. I was determined to go to Duke University and become a Marine Biologist forever. That is, until, I moved to the desert.

Even then, I tired to find ways to study Marine Biology on the internet, from the library. But I lost the fun in the exploration and the experiences I could have with water environments. So, I occupied a lot of my extra time with church activities, mostly working in the nurseries and Sunday School. It wasn't until I was 13, and on my last year of middle school, that my Mom noticed how good I was with kids. She, as a substitute at the elementary connected to my middle school, started a program with my class of 8th graders helping the kindergartners she worked with. Over the course of the Spring semester, I realized how much I loved watching them learn, form bonds with them, and as I helped them with a sign language song at their graduation, I realized that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I want to do what  can to provide children with a safe learning environment, a good education, and hope for their future. And I thought, but I can't do that as just a Kindergarten teacher, I'll have to be a middle school teacher too! Probably a Principle, and maybe even a Superintendent! So, that started my pursuit for an education degree. I immediately applied for my Early College High School, and started looking at what classes I would be taking over the years. Now, as a finishing Junior, soon to be Senior, I will start my fall semester with child development classes, and all that good stuff to get a head start on my Bachelors in Early Childhood Education.