What put me on this path?

I posed this week's Sibling Assignment to my brother and sister. You can find their posts here and here.

Think back to a time before you went to college that contributed to choosing and doing well in your current career.

I was asked to apply for my current job, because I have had experience as a college admissions officer, I have media experience, and working with kids.

All my previous jobs before this one have contributed to having the experience to do well in my current position. But I guess the question is, what got me going in the original direction after college?

The only thing I remember about choosing a major as I was heading off to college was that I knew I didn't want to be a teacher. I wasn't really rebellious as a teenager, so maybe this was my way of rebelling against the other members of my family. When I was a senior in high school, my mother was a teacher, my dad had gone to college to be a teacher, by brother was a teacher and my sister was a teacher. I didn't feel like teaching wasn't a worthy profession, but I wanted to do something different.

So what was it that made me choose another path? I think there were several factors that steered me toward a career that involved public speaking, writing, planning and organizing and performing.

I think church gave me my first chance at singing solos and performing in Christmas programs. I always seemed to get good parts because I had a loud speaking voice and I read well.

I also remember while I was in Campfire Girls and our group had a talent show one year. My talent was a stand up comedy routine. And people laughed.

My freshman year in junior high, I took drama. I had watched my brother and my sister perform in plays while they were in high school, and thought I would always want to do that. We also had to write our own play in that class, and I got an A.

I continued my creative pursuits in high school, continuing playing the flute in band, singing in choir, peforming in plays, writing a school newsletter, and being involved in student government, speech competitions, pep club, and a couple years playing volleyball.

Reading and writing were always subjects I enjoyed. But when the light really came on for me was when I took Poetry from Dale Bachman. He made it come alive and analyzing poetry was amazing, and it opened up a world I didn't know existed.

So, I think the things that I did well and gave me pleasure were the performing and writing I did, so that is why I headed to college with perhaps a communications major.

And now I am the Gear Up Site Coordinator. I am using all the knowledge, creativity, I have gained in the last 22 years since I graduated from college to help kids figure out what their strengths are, what gives them pleasure, and how they can be successful after high school.

How cool is that?

I get to use my creativity, my organizing skills and my communication skills to make a difference in the lives of these kids.

And even though teaching is part of this job, I'm still not a teacher. I feel uneasy being called one. Because I wasn't trained in the teaching profession. But I can still help kids, and help teachers, and be supportive to make school a better place for all of them.

Plus, my lifelong dream has always been being a Broadway musical star. I know I'll never make it to Broadway, but at least I have the Sixth Street Theater in Wallace to help fulfill this dream on a smaller scale. Well, it isn't the Big Apple, but it is in the Centre of the Universe, so, who knows? Wonderful magic can always happen at the Centre of the Universe.