I don't wanna grow up...

RIP, Geoffrey the Giraffe.  Gone but never forgotten. 🦒☠

I've honestly never really had a clear picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up.  As a kid (and as an adult, let's face it), I bounced around from idea to idea. I've never really sat and asked myself what I wanted and what would make me happy.  

I've kind of fallen into several jobs that turned out not to be for me. I worked at a small local newspaper when my son was a baby because I was good at it, and I could take him to work with me in a bouncer. I loved that job, but it had no benefits and the pay was awful.  A long time ago, I worked temporarily at OKDHS administering a heating assistance program.  When I was at the newspaper, the OKDHS director happened to come in and we had a conversation.  A couple days later, she reached out to me about a job opening she had for a social worker.  I wasn't crazy about the job description but it came with full health benefits, retirement, and evenings, weekends, and holidays off.  As a single mom to an infant, the choice was obvious.  I didn't totally hate the job, but it was tedious and boring. My favorite part of my whole experience there was actually planning a couple of celebrations for retirements and special occasions.  Side note: event planner was ALWAYS high on the list when I fantasized about fulfilling careers.  BIG. HUGE.

One of my coworkers at DHS was Lee Ann, and her mom was a teacher in a tiny little town about 11 miles away. Over the course of my 8 months there, Lee Ann and I became friends and I got to know her mom well.  We had several conversations and I started to think maybe I wanted to be a teacher.  The possibility excited me and I felt good about it.  I started the application process for alternative certification since my degree wasn't in education.  Just a few months later, fate dropped a teaching job into my lap in a tidy little package.  My friend's mom reached out and told me her school needed an English teacher, STAT. School started in just a couple weeks, so I went to meet the superintendent the next day and was offered the job on the spot. I went into teaching full of excitement and optimism, and it was the place for me.  

I spent the next 15 years teaching, with plenty of other stuff thrown in.  I may need a whole separate post for my side hustle timeline.  Fast forward to the 2023-2024 school year.  I haven't been happy this year at all.  I finally realized I just can't work for my admin anymore - but the realization of that forced me to really start thinking about my life in general.  If I'm not happy, I shouldn't be teaching.  Period.  Those kids don't need another person who hates them and grudgingly goes in every day.  There are plenty of "warm bodies" in the classroom already.  So, I put in my voluntary resignation notice.  I will work through May 17th, get paid through July, and then...well, I really don't know yet.  But I'm excited about the possibilities, and that's what I've been missing.  Cheers!