I love being a teacher. As I have said many times, to many people - this job is never boring, and often presents opportunities to me that I never imagined would come my way.Exhibit A: One of my students, whom I taught when she was a Junior asked me to write her a letter. It was an assignment for her Senior English class, and she was hoping I could provide some advice for her next few years (I know, I was confused as well..:). I felt honored to be asked at all, and here is what I had for her:
Dear Sara,
So as 2017 comes to a close and you are inevitably finishing up your next to last semester of high school – I will espouse some bits of wisdom to you :). So, in my life I have come to believe many, many things about what can help us be more fulfilled.
First, is curiosity. As you get older, you will often find that life gets more complicated. Not harder, but more complicated. There just more complex financial issues, and families continue to be strange and hard to navigate. But….you must always work to remain curious about everything. Your life will remain continuously adventurous and awesome if you always dig deep into WHY the things that impact your life are the way that they are. It is not random. Keep looking for it.
Next, don’t wait for things to happen to you – go do things. Think about what you want your life to look like, and then make your life that way. Sometimes, I envision my life as though it is a movie. And I always imagine what song would make this moment more amazing. And then…I play that exact song, literally creating the soundtrack of my life. And guess what, IT WORKS! And this goes for pretty much everything: If you wish that you were a singer – become a singer. If you wish that you were the type of person who always wore blue shirts, then wear blue shirts. To quote Cameron from the great movie Ferris Bueller”s Day Off, “I am not going to sit here as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to defend it.” Yes, that’s what I mean. Go do stuff.
Next, don’t be embarrassed to love the crap out of things. It is cool to be goofy and ridiculous about the things and people that you love. Some folks out there will judge you negatively for acting like an enthusiastic child – but ignore them. People who will matter to you, and the people that you truly love, will respect (and adore) you for your enthusiastic passion. So, don’t apologize for loving the things that you love. Find something to love, and love the crap out of it.
Lastly, surround yourself with people who inspire you. Find people who you admire, and try to spend time with them. And tell them that they matter to you, and that you want to learn. Ask them questions and try to grow. But make sure that they also work to build you up and learn from you (relationships must be two-way). These people are few and far between, so when you find them – work to maintain the relationship, and it will take work.
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