On April 10, 2008, I wrote these words in my personal journal:
"I've decided to wholeheartedly pursue teaching. I am getting everything together that I need, including all of my references. And, mark my words, Journal, I will get hired somewhere and I will make an amazing teacher. It has always been in my heart to teach."
If I'd only known how long and at times, how rough the journey would be, I most likely would have given up sooner. That was over three years ago, and over the past three years, I worked harder than I ever have before, became a substitute, went back to school, took a slew of tests, applied for jobs, interviewed, got rejected, cried, said I was done, then finally dusted myself off again and told myself I was worth a shot as a music teacher. I just needed the right school to give me a chance.
On Tuesday of this week, I had all but given up. We all have dreams that at times in our lives have to be laid at the altar, so to speak, because they are taking our energy away from other areas of our lives that could be more productive. I was driving to my church choir rehearsal and prayed and released what I thought was a dead dream of teaching into God's hands.
Several hours later, I found out that a high school I had interviewed for a week ago wanted to hire me as the Chorus Teacher! I have to be honest and say that after three years of relentlessly pursuing a goal with as much gusto as I could muster, I was a bit numb when I finally, finally accomplished it! I had never gotten past the point of rejection before, so now that I was on the other side, I had a whole new set of feelings to deal with. Namely, what on earth am I going to teach these kids?
Of course, now that the news has settled, my organizational skills have kicked in and I know that I'm more than capable of giving my students a quality music education. It's what I love to do when I teach private lessons, so I know I can do it in a classroom setting.
All I needed was one chance, and now that I've been given it, I vow to be the best music teacher that I can possibly be. These students won't know what tornado of a 5 foot woman hit them!
I'm so glad I didn't give up. My life has now opened up to this new road on my journey and I'm overjoyed to get the chance to take it. I believe that God placed me right where I needed to be, in front of the right people, and it was time for me to get my shot!
I also need to say that there are countless people along this journey who have helped me, encouraged me, given me invaluable information, and assured me that I was worth it. If you had anything to do with any of these things, you know who you are and I have to tell you that I am eternally grateful and couldn't have done it without you! Thank you.
Finally, now that I've accomplished my goal of becoming a teacher, I needed to set a new goal to strive for. I'm going to cut myself some slack for this school year so I can learn the ropes of being a first year high school teacher (gulp!), but eventually my long-term goal is to be Teacher of the Year, either at my school or for the county, whichever comes first! I'll let you know when that happens!
Please don't give up on your dreams. You never know if you're a phone call away from them coming true!
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