March 7: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

What do you want to be when you grow up if one of my favorite things to ask children? Whether it is the preschool graduation and they reply things from "my daddy", "princess", "Elmo", or "a fireman", I love it. I think it is precious, and I truly want to know your interests and what you want to become. Or, I love it when the students are sophomores, juniors, or seniors, and their answers are "nurse practitioner", "teacher", "graphic designer", or "welder". They have a dream and a direction. Many answer they don't know yet, and that is okay as well. 

When I was little, there were a couple of alternate choices for what I thought I could be when I grew up. One role was a rockstar. I shared a bedroom with my parents until I was 7, and my sisters moved out. I used the hamper as my stand, and I placed my Yamaha keyboard (which I still have) on the hamper, played keyboard while my radio blasted the current pop songs, such as "We Built This City" or "Man in the Mirror", two of my all time favorites. Then, I would jump on the bed, and sing, and I would wrap up by moving back to the air drums (not knowing I would actually play snare in the band and the piano years later that is pretty interesting that I avoided the guitar, which I have no interest in). My next alternate choice to become was an advertiser, who wrote jingles. I wrote my first song in third grade, which was not a jingle, but more of a Debbie Gibson remake. It was called "The Mountain of Love". I still remember parts of the song today. But in all reality, I decided to become a teacher by age 7. I changed what grade I would teach and eventually decided which subject I wanted, but I always wanted to teach. I used my musical capabilities to write songs for my classroom, and I truly enjoy doing that even now.

During one of our meetings today, Dr. Moeller challenged my thinking, as usual. To begin with, we discussed a poem that displayed words that explained how our thoughts turn to actions, then to habits, becoming our character, which leads to our destiny, and then, ultimately, "what we think, we become". So, not only did he have me think about this: that my thoughts are ultimately determining what I am and who I want to be, but toward the end of the meeting, he asked, "How did you become who you are?" This resonated with me, and I began to self-reflect about what personality traits and values that I hold and due to people and events, where they came from. For example, education is deeply rooted in my family as all 5 of my full-blood siblings are teachers, along with multiple nieces. Education is who I am along with many other things, and I may save that for another blog.

Today, I want to challenge your thinking. If we want to know who we are, then, instead of asking the question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?" shouldn't we ask "who do you want to be when you grow up?". I know it may be confusing for the preschoolers, but when you change your answer from doctor to protector and from welder to creator and from teacher to innovator of learning, doesn't it change who you are every day?