A Path Already
All my life I have wanted to be a
teacher. From the time I was in
Kindergarten I remember uttering those words.
I remember my high school counselor asking me what direction I thought
college would take me. It was never a
question in my mind. I felt God had
given me a gift and I wanted to put it into practice. And I did…
At the age of ten, I began babysitting
in our neighborhood. I would rather be
with other children and help take care of them than anything else in the world.
Therefore, my baby dolls were well
tended to and very smart, I might add, since I played school with them almost
every day. Both of my siblings were
older than me so I spent a great deal of my time amusing myself. And boy, was that easy. First of all, it meant organizing my room,
AGAIN, for the 15th time in a year, in order to make my mock
classroom the best for my students. Then
it meant putting all of my teacher editions together in one place. Then I had to line up the baby dolls that
were going to be privileged enough to learn that day. That’s all I needed: a room, some books, a few dolls, and myself –
the teacher. It all seemed so easy and I
loved it.
I remember elementary school being a
very influential time in my life. When I
think back on those days, a smile comes to my face and my heart feels
warm. I had the same wonderful teacher,
Ms. Draughon, for Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. I could not have been any more blessed. I wanted so much to please her and most of
all to be like her. I remember our
classroom. I felt like I was in fairy
tale land. She always kept everything so
nice, neat, colorful, and decorated. I
can remember seeing the light on in our classroom long after dark, when I was
riding to a volunteer function with my parents.
I always wondered why Ms. Draughon spent so much time there when no one
else had to be there. Now I know!! Ms. Draughon made learning fun. She allowed us to use our minds and our
imagination and things really seemed to come to life. Ms. Draughon was always patient with us. I always knew Ms. Draughon loved me – all
three years.
After the first three years of my
school career being so wonderful and fulfilling, I couldn’t imagine how they
could get any better. Well, that was
just the beginning. My third and fourth
grade years were both with different but wonderful teachers. More than the teachers those years I remember
fondly my feelings of self-confidence, assurance in who I was, and the ability
to help others. If I could go back to a
time in my life when I felt the most secure of all, it would definitely be my
elementary school years.
Of course, my parents played the
biggest role in the positive influences in my life. Both of my parents are and have always been
leaders. As far back as I can remember,
I hear these sayings in my mind, “Be a leader!”, “Go get ‘em!”, “Keep your chin up!”, “Put a smile on your face!”. My parents allowed me the opportunity to have
such a healthy emotional beginning because of the lives they lived as an
example to me daily. My parents, as well
as my sister and brother, now are all educators. My grandmother was also a teacher. My parents have always had room in their
hearts, house, and pocket for other people’s children. I learned from them that the most important
thing in life besides your salvation is to be a servant to others. My parents held education very highly in our
house. There were many expectations of
us at a young age but they were all to benefit us later. My parents wanted so much for us to always be
the best we could be. My dad often
reminded us that “God don’t make no junk!”
The most important ten two-letter words to live by he said are “If it is
to be, it is up to me!”
Imagine growing up in a family where
God comes first, family next, then education.
Put all of that with the awesome beginning years of elementary school
and what do you get…a young girl who is ready to conquer the world. Then came my next best years - 5th grade through 7th
grade when I had Ms. Greene. Oh how I
loved Ms. Greene. She sure was tough
though. But she loved me. She always treated me just like everyone else
whether I did something good or bad, but then she’d take me home with her. I even got to spend the night with her when
my parents went out of town. I remember
one day when Ms. Greene was giving us our spelling test. She was in one good mood that day, I do
remember that. She said, “Number eight,
success.” Then she continued in reciting
a cheer that she did as a child and doing the hand motions as well.
“S-U-C-C-E-S-S. That’s the way you
spell success. Alright, yeah, yeah,
alright. (Clap, clap, clap).” All of a sudden the entire class looked
around and burst out laughing because she had just spelled our spelling word
for us and didn’t even realize it right then.
We were so excited! I remember
being excited not only because she spelled a word for us but also because she
was excited. I loved it when she was
excited about what we were doing. That
excitement rubbed off on me.
My 8th grade year was the
first year that the
I guess up to this point my life was
so well-rounded but yet sheltered. Not
sheltered in the sense that some of my children in my classroom today are
sheltered but sheltered from the real world…divorced parents, smoking, cussing,
sex talk, alcohol, mean friends, broken hearts, drugs, vindictive people, and
confidence being looked at as being stuck up.
I guess these are things that most kids were already dealing with. Not for me.
All of this was new, and all of this was a shock. School didn’t seem so fulfilling anymore.
In spite of my disappointments
throughout high school with academics, social and emotional issues, I still
knew as soon as I graduated I wanted to attend