coming to terms with my new profession

I can't believe that it's almost over. My whole life I've been working towards this goal: to be the first in my family to graduate from a four year university. And ever since I was ten, I've been passionate about writing and reading. It's something my grandfather taught me and after he passed, I made it my mission to make him proud. So while my original dream of NYU journalism school was given up for a more practical education here at Millersville, I feel that I have made the right choice. In my heart, I know that teaching is where I want to be and helping students grow is also my passion.

So college will be over in 9 months. My formal education period, at least for now, will be over. And I will be thrown into the "real world" that everyone keeps warning me about. It's scary. No longer will I live on/near a campus with roommates who don't care when I come or go. I will probably move back home where I might have a curfew, at least to be respectful to my parents who have real jobs. I will be expected to pay things like my cell phone, car insurance, and maybe even health insurance. And then of course 6 months after graduation, I will be expected to start paying on my school loans, which isn't chump change by any means.

The world is out there, and it's waiting. I'm scared that I'm not ready for it. Like almost everyone, I have spent the majority of my young life in a sheltered, safe, and comfortable environment called school. And while I know that I have skills to succeed, everyone is making it sound so difficult. But I have a positive outlook on it, and I hope that it will be everything that I imagined it would be.

As a teacher, I strive to be like the teachers that inspired me. I know it won't happen over night, and I hate not being perfect or good at something at first. But I know that teaching is an ever changing profession and experience. Not everything can be the same or go according to plan because I want it to. Classroom dynamics are always changing. I just hope that I have the strength and the ability to adapt to these always changing conditions and make my classroom a safe place for the students who enter it everyday.