My home
I live at home with my brothers, their animals, and my parents. We are a happy family and always eat dinner together at night. Actually, right now I'm lying because I haven't had dinner with the folks at the kitchen table for over a month. You see, I love to travel - especially when I get to visit my friends (particularly the female variety). Over winter break I flew over to Russia and was the best man at a friend's wedding. Here comes a wise and pithy saying. Notice the elegant use of italic fontface. :)
My school
I attend the University of Maryland, affectionately referred to as College Park, or just plain ol' UMD. Life is nice here. Since I haven't been enrolled for a year and a half, things have certainly changed. A new building here, things changed around there, new routes to different classes. Oy! How time sure does fly. When I entered I was a Music Education major. That lasted for one semester followed by a couple years pursuing a Music Performance degree in trumpet. With the end in sight I switched gears again to Computer Science. During one fateful class period my over exuberant professor ranted about how teaching as a profession is undervalued. That got me a-thinkin' and as a result I signed up to be a teacher.
My aspirations
As a teacher I have many high expectations for myself, but realize that it is possible to be an okay teacher without putting in 110%. The last mile is always the hardest and whether or not to see your marathon to the end is a question we all must answer for ourselves. What all this mumbo-jumbo has to do with educational goals, I don't know.
I am in year 7 of my higher education foray. Dabbling in diverse fields certainly is interesting, but it is time for me to actually complete something and move on. So, barring any unforseen tragedy happening, I'll gradumacate in Spring 2007. Therefore, my primary academic educational goal is to graduate.
Imagination is powerful. That can be a bad thing. In my case, I can imagine myself having very successful, rewarding careers in several different fields. After graduation (or possibly before), the most important life shaping experience that I will go through is getting hitched. Marriage is not a normal 'educational goal', per se. But I feel that it is one that will shift my outlook on life and therefore enable me to better relate to all people, students included.
To review... 1) graduate, 2) snag life-partner, 3) decide what I want to be when I grow up. Honestly, I hope that the third item is elusive for a few more years. Keeping a childish outlook that anything and everything is possible insulates against the cynicism grown ups can fall into. As a professional teacher I don't necessarily want my students to like me as a friend. I want them to love me as their mentor in life. Life is, after all, about learning.
