I recently read an article that studied Gen Xers (my generation) and younger workers about their attitudes towards working. The researcher concluded that mid career and younger workers no longer see themselves as 30+ year employees at a job. In fact, many young and middle age workers no longer see themselves in a "career", at least not in the traditional sense, they see themselves as having several "jobs" throughout their working lives, but not really any one "career". The article gave several reasons for this; 1) There is a sense among young and mid career workers that the grass is greener in a different field, 2) Workers get bored with their job so they look for new challenges, 3) The pursuit of better pay or benefits, 4) Some young workers want job satisfaction or self-worth to come from their jobs and if it is not readily apparent at one job they will leave in pursuit of it somewhere else. And finally the researcher claimed, sometimes people just have wanderlust and float from job to job because they either consciously or subconsciously enjoy the challenge and change that comes with acquiring a new job and new skills.
While I found the article to be enlightening and interesting, I also found it somewhat perplexing because, although one of the focus groups in the article was my generation, I couldn't really identify with the people in the study because I am wholly content and happy with my place in the world. I have found myself. I have found my mission in life, my calling if you will. My place is in the classroom, in front of teenagers sharing my passion and knowledge of our history. This is where I belong and this is where I intend to stay. Now finding my place, that has been a journey. My journey is not all that special either, because truth be told; my story parallels that of many, many teachers who have had similar stories.
As many people around me know, when I entered college I had two career paths I was interested in; being a high school history teacher, or being a lawyer. Both were very intriguing to me and I had had people in both fields tell me I would be good at both choices. As I explored both options I soon discovered how many years of college I would need to become a lawyer so a teacher it was! And I can honestly say I really don't regret my choice. I thoroughly enjoy being able to go to sleep at night and feel good about what I do as well as being able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning knowing that what I do truly is beneficial for all. The only time I kind of regret my career choice is at the end of the month when I get paid, then I think ' Ohhhhh, should have been a lawyer.'
I've also had opportunities in the last 19 years to leave the classroom and pursue other options. Some of them involving education, some of them involving history and some of them in completely different fields. The one option that was the most appealing was going into school administration. That held a lot of appeal. I would still be in a school setting, I would still be be dealing with students but I would be making more money. This option looked and sounded really nice. However, the more I thought about it, the less appealing it became. Although I would still be dealing with students, it would be in a different capacity because instead of dealing with them in a pleasant, fun and enjoyable manner, I would, for the most part, be dealing with them in an unpleasant manner. 90% of the time when a student is in an administrators office, it's because something went really bad. I did not want most of my interaction with students to be negative. It would also require me leaving the classroom, and that was too great a sacrifice for me. In addition to that, when I was really very serious and interested in this move things happened in the district and the conditions in the district were not favorable for me to make that kind of move. But, now there has been a lot of changes in leadership in the district and most of those who could have and would have blocked my transition are now gone. However, the pull of the classroom is still very powerful and attractive to leave.
There are still options available to me if I wanted to pursue something outside of the classroom. I could again renew my foray into administration. I could pursue pursue a path in strengthening and growing my profession either in education in general or in Social Studies/History education specifically. But, nah. Those aren't for me. Now I do have in mind a really great show idea for the History Channel or the Discovery Channel that would involve me traveling around to various historical sites and exploring the history of these sites (in particular the weird and unusual history- what I call "Jerry Springer History" in class) and do this with a healthy dose of deadpan as well as off-the wall goofy humor. That would draw me out of the classroom, but sadly I don't see that happening. Both networks are too interested in so-called "reality shows" and the History Channel seemingly is becoming less and less interested in History. So, in the classroom I'll remain. Which is fine because it makes me happy.
I often tell my students that one of the keys to life and happiness is to do something that you truly love and enjoy to do. If you can do that then you never have to go to work. I haven't worked in 19 years. If my families well being as well as mine didn't depend on it, I would teach for free and still enjoy it. That's the key to life. Enjoy what your doing and then continue to work to be better at it. I couldn't imagine waking up everyday and dreading going into work. I couldn't imagine working with my main goal being the weekend. To me that would be skull-drudgery. Now don't get me wrong, I love June, July and August but that is definitely not the reason I teach. I teach because I love it and every year I am striving to be better than I was the year before.
But here's the kicker, I'm not alone in my thoughts and ideas. Most of the teachers I know are the same way. They LOVE what they do and are constantly striving to be better. They usually can't think of anything they would rather do other than teach. Most would be willing to teach for free if they could survive in some other way. Teaching is a passion, not a job that you can do for a while until you get bored or something else comes along. Most teachers live for September to May and see June, July and August as a nice break so they can prepare for the next school year. When you have that kind of passion and drive, that's when you've found your calling. This is the drive most teachers have. My passion is not unique either, in every school and every classroom that has effective, memorable teachers they have the same passion. These teachers have found their place in the world and they want to help their students find theirs.
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