Whoa, two days in a row. It could be a writing streak! 🙂

Last week, I had students ask me what I’d do if I were not a teacher.

#wow

I know! And it got me thinking, what WOULD I be doing if I weren’t a teacher? So, I looked at it through the eyes of me throughout the years.

I know, in 3rd grade, we were asked to write about what we wanted to be. So I drew myself a semi and wrote about driving a truck. I thought that it would be awesome to be out on the road, seeing all the different places in the country, and living on the road. It’s a precursor to the whole idea of van life/RV life. Either way, I found that idea intriguing (in the mind of a 3rd grade boy)!

#littleboysandtheirtoys

You know it!

As a 10th grader, I was all about being a radio announcer. Growing up, we listened to WGN out of Chicago and Cubs baseball. Harry Carey and Steve Stone were calling those games and they always had so much fun! They had great chemistry, Stone tolerated a lot of the gaffs that Harry made, which made it that much more fun to listen to. Harry trying to pronounce some foreign names was absolutely amazing. They were the first broadcasters who made me really think about that as a career. It never happened, but as I sit watching the Iowa/Wisconsin women’s basketball game, I’m doing some play-by-play, so the dream is still there! 🙂

#youareadork

No doubt, but it’s all good!

We jump ahead a few years, to 40 y/o me (literally it could be 23 y/o me and beyond, but we’ll let me age a bit). I’ve found that I love coaching basketball. Absoltely love it. It’s teaching, but on a court and I can yell if I need to without too many people getting upset. This version (and let’s be honest, today’s version of me) would love to be a big-time college coach. If I’d known in college what I know now, I’d have worked to have been a manager of some sort, a grad assistant somewhere, and seen where I could go. However, my middle schoolers are just fine. There’s no pressure to win (ok, maybe a little). Overall, I’ve had amazing parents and support from the community. And best of all, I’ve been able to coach some awesome kids.

#ImagineaFinalFour

Oh, I’ve had dreams of getting there, don’t worry! I’ve also replayed one of two times I cried after a game way too many times in my head (missed the state tournament in a last-second shot, losing to a coach who will always be the villain in my head) I’ve felt those highs and lows coaching where I’ve been!

This leads me to the point of this whole mess. Yes, I could have been any of those things, but teaching is what I’ve always wanted to do. Entering college, I really thought I’d be a high school history teacher and football coach, the “typical” kind of thing. My first placement was in a combined 2nd/3rd grade classroom and I was sold: elementary for me! I’ve always been in middle school. I’ve had one year of teaching some high school and 29 years in fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. They are my home base. They keep me young with their nonsense, their “coolness”, and their attitudes.

#theysmell

True, but I cannot image being anywhere else.

In the end, the teaching route has been good to me so I cannot complain. It was interesting to go back in my own head to picture me in different spots of my life and see, what did I want to be?

What about you? If you weren’t teaching (or doing what you are doing currently) where would you be?