what do you wanna do after college???

The question that you hear OVER and OVER again!!!! What are you going to do after school??? Well in the beginning it was easy...I am going to school for Elementary Education....people then assume public school teacher.. However through my experiences during college days I am not really wanting to be a public or private school teacher in a classroom setting. The further into my education I get the more I think about what I could do with this degree....remind myself why I want to be a teacher. Its not for the pay :) Its not because I have summers and Christmas break off....although a definate bonus....but it is fo the kids. I LOVE KIDS! I love their innocence about life...I love their need for compassion and need for love. I know kids can be rotten and sometimes down right mean but that is one of the things I want to make an impact on when I come into contact with these kids. I wanna show them love, compassion, understanding. I want to be ears for them to talk to and a shoulder to cry on and a hug on a bad day.

Anyway I have been thinking about different options....a place where I feel like I could really love being and really make a difference. This past year a friend from church, Evan, was diagnosed with leukemia and thanks to God he is now in remission, but during a visit with him at Riley Hospital his mom was talking to me about how they have teachers to come in to do school work with the kids so they don't get to far behind in school. As difficult as that may be to be in a hospital teaching kids I feel as if God could totally use me to not only teach kids but to just be a light in their lives that could possibly be some of their worst days.

Also the other night I caught the show School Pride....I describe it as an Extreme Home Makeover School addition. During the show there is a team of designers that pick a school to make over. In this show the school had teachers who were Teachers For America....teachers who have just graduated from college who go into inner city schools to help improve the schools. I LOVED THE CONCEPT! I love the inner city and I feel like I could make a positive difference. Again I know how terribly hard it could be but I feel like it could also be a great learning time for me and just a chance to love on some kids that may not get the love they need or deserve otherwise. There are so many options I know and I know God will direct my way to somewhere where He believes I can use my talents and I am soo excited about it! I was getting down in the dumps about not being excited about being a teacher anymore because I had not enjoyed my experiences in the school systems but now learning about all these options I am excited again!!!