It's true, isn't it?
When I was in junior high, my home ex teacher was my idol. She was young, single, and loved to teach us to sew and cook. Because of her, I wanted to be a home ec teacher and took every home ec class I could while I was in high school. When I started at Indiana State, I fully intended to teach home ec or be an extension agent.
Somewhere along that journey, I changed my mind and decided to pursue a degree in liberal arts, majoring in English. I remember sitting at the ISU Evansville campus (now USI) during my AmLit survey class, using the same anthology we use in ENG 222 and 223. The guy sitting next to me asked me why I wasn't majoring in English since I was so good at writing and loved reading the lit and discussing it. The change was made. I was scared to death to do it, but the same guy was very encouraging....everyone has to read and write so I would never be out of a job teaching it. True.
Ups and downs come with everything in life, including majoring I the Liberal Arts. However, through my 40 years on this journey the positives have outweighed the negatives.
First...I love to read. I spent all of my free time when I was growing up with a nose in a book. I would bury myself in a book on the long 12 -hour trips to visit my grandparents in Ohio, coming up for air only for restroom breaks or closing the book when it was too dark to see the print. Brit lit was my favorite in college! but when I started teaching juniors, AmLit took over as my preference. Selecting new novels to read and finding ways to entice my lower level kids, along with the rough and tough football players who didn't like to read,into at least reading past the first page of anything was a fun challenge. Seeing the eyes light up, the light bulbs click on with understanding, and listening to in-depth discussion begin before the bell rang were just perks to doing what I love.
Second....coaxing timid writers who were afraid to express their ideas into composing narratives, short stories, and poems was downright rewarding. Reading their words pop off the pages as the students created individual masterpieces was just the beginning. Several competed in our conference writing contests with great results; others pursued majors relating to writing and lit when they graduated.
Third...there is so much satisfaction when I see others pursue similar degrees. Number one is my own daughter. My heart fills with love and pride when I see the wonderful English teacher and librarian she has become. Don Vogt is my first student who became an Emglish teacher. Mike McCarty was probably my last high school student to finish his English degree at Purdue, and there have been several student teachers from my West Central days who are making a name for themselves in schools across the country, including Beth Dean at Pioneer in Royal Center and Sarah Bombagetti Nehrbass at a private school in Seattle, Washington. Now my heart swells even more when my Ivy Tech students make the decision to move into the world of Liberal Arts, specifically English. Plus there are others who I coerce happily into electing an AmLit course to fulfill a Humanities requirement for graduation. Once caught....never released! Well, thrice released.....one student didn't realize there would actually be reading required for this course--Horrors! Another couldn't actually see the point of submission through Blackboard and sent her assignments randomly through her Yahoo email to various addresses of mine. The third one didn't have internet access on a regular basis, which makes it hard to complete an online course. Otherwise, mostly success.
My son-in-law once said to me 'Not everyone loves reading and literature like you do!' I agreed, but I also replied that "Not everyone realizes that they CAN grow to love literature and reading like I do." Reading is fun. Reading is a great way to spend time waiting for an appointment. Reading can take one to places and times that could never be experienced otherwise. Reading is a release, a mood brightener, an energizer. Reading is informative, educational, entertaining, enlightening.
If I can spend my 'work' time discussing literature, helping others improve their writing skills, leading students and others to enjoy two of the greatest communication skills, reading and writing, then is my work really work?
I can't imagine myself teaching FACS classes now. My days in the classroom should not have been erased to spend time in an extension office in a county where budget cuts are numerous and agents are stretched beyond their limits. Thank you to the guy who sat next to me in that summer class at ISU-Evansville who first suggested that I change my major. It lead me to a journey that included more than I could have ever imagined possible. No regrets.
It's true. Work isn't work when you are doing something you love.
