I found out I wanted to teach about six semesters too late. In all honesty, me teaching was inevitable. I have been telling people they’re doing things wrong since inception and trying to show them how to do it right since sixth grade. But, I fought it every step of the way. I saw how my teachers have been treated from preschool to my senior year of college and wanted to not have that. Even now, I still am not doing it for the children. I like learning and have since I was a kid. I just realized that I want to try to change how education is taught, particularly history. It’s been hard to come up with how to do it. I think that’s why I want this so badly now. I like puzzles. I like coming up with how to do things, so I’m excited to figure out how to incorporate what we’re already taught with ALL the stuff I’ve learned.

The issue is, I’m a biology major. I can’t quit now though because I only have a year left and even an education minor is 48 volunteer hours, two three-credit classes that are smack dab in the middle of the day, and a lot more work than I want to do. But, I still want to find a way to get my teaching license and figure out how to weasel my way into being a history teacher and trying out my budding lesson plans. I don’t know how yet, but I keep reminding myself that I’m only 21 so there’s plenty of time for me to chase, lose, trip over, step on, and eventually catch my dreams. After all, I hope to be around for a while.

What do I want to be? Why do I want to be it?

Two very excellent questions...The first can be answered relatively easy and quickly. The second requires a little more in-depth explanation and some background.

I want to be an author. Is it a surprise? No, I guess not really.

Now, why do I want to be an author? Is it a financially secure job? No. Will everybody support me? No. Will everybody like my work? No. So, why an author?

Ever since I was a kid, I liked stories. I read books' pictures, I drew stories with pictures, and when I finally learned to read I attacked books with a fury and a passion. I was immensely intrigued in the telling of stories and the art involved in it. And after years of thinking what I want to do with my life, I finally realized that it has been with me for years. I want to write.

There's something about a fictional world that draws me in. It intrigues me. I can forget about my problems and my faults, and I can just go on this journey with my characters. Sometimes, it is a very short journey, and other times very long, but I still have the time of my life in both cases.

I also have to add that I want to be an author, because there's a ton of ideas in my head that I feel will make good stories for others to read. I'm not saying I can do justice to the ideas. I am saying that the ideas are terrific. Which means I have this great amount of pressure to present the idea correctly and wonderfully. Pressure from my brain, that is.

I want to be an author, because it is my talent. Because it is my escape. It is my passion, my great friend, and the best way for me to have an adventure. Think about it. Which person can say that they went to a fantasy land where they had to run away from creepy things, ride on a triceratops's back, and fly with pterodactyls? Which person can say that they have fallen in love a hundred times over with a million new and amazing people? (Not necessarily a good thing, come to think about it...) Which person can say that they have flown all around the world, they've seen the past, they've experienced the future, and they fully understand the present? Okay, who ever fully understands the present? My point is, writers do these things. I can do these things.

I may never set a foot in Spain, but I can run with the bulls of Pamplona. I may never visit the United States, but I can walk down the streets of Texas, reveling in that Texan accent. I may never go to Australia, but I can spy through binoculars (safely, far away from them) on kangaroos, dingoes, and koalas. So, I get to travel the world, but never leave the comforts of home. And when I get tired of the fictional world, I can return to reality, and still be me.

And these are my reasons for being what I want to be...There is possibly more, but I think I'll stop right here before I remember the other reasons.