As the child of a former Kindergarten teacher and a current Professor at Robert Morris University, being an educator has always been pressed upon me, especially now that I attend a "teaching college." When asked what my major is and I reply "English Studies," the next question I am asked is "What grade do you want to teach?"
While I have a lot of respect for the future educators of this generation, and all the friends I have made here that have a passion for educating, I have never shared that passion, no matter how many times my mother tried to convince me that it was the route I should take. Her arguments consisted of, being able to be my own boss, and summers and holidays off. But the truth is I cannot imagine spending the majority of my life in school, just to end up in more school until I retire.
It took a lot of courage to change my major to English, knowing very well I was entering into one of the lowest paying majors there is. Growing up my parents tried to make it so that I never had to worry about money. But as I became older, and my father lost his job that supported us as a family, I started to recognize the importance of maintaining a stable job in order to independently support myself, instead of relying on someone else, like a husband. And that standard still exists for me, despite my unpopular course of study.
No I was not born with an inspiring passion for the mathematics, or the technical, or engineering, or being a doctor, all the things that are noble and good careers that are almost certain to make their suitors well off in the future; and for awhile I believe that because I was not interested in something that could make me a lot of money, I was essentially passionate-less. I saw myself as talent-less and idiotic when I struggled to comprehend the material in all my math courses.
But there was always one thing I excelled in throughout grade, middle, and high school, and that was literature. My love for books started when I was young, I would stay up til dawn reading until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I used to write short stories in my journals about the imaginary creatures I'd dream up. But as I got older, my love for English and Literature became trumped by my newfound responsibilities and the reality of the world I was about the enter, a world where I would have to prepare to live a life independent from my parents, a life that could not be supported on fiction novels and my imagination alone.
Finally deciding to embrace my talents and stop rejecting them was one of the most important decisions of my life, pursuing writing as a career is certainly not going to easy and I plan to struggle, a lot if I am ever to succeed. But there is one thing that matters much more to me that money and independence, and that is having a career that exemplifies my strengths and makes me happier than I'd be as a doctor or an engineer.
