After I realized that the business wasn’t going to happen (and it was probably a good thing because of all the new competition in the area), I spent a little time looking around for other businesses but really didn’t see anything that appealed to me. I needed another plan because I suspected (and still do) that it’s only a matter of time before my current employer starts cutting back on labor. And, considering that I live way out in the middle of nowhere, it seems likely that I’d be the first to go. But the question remained, what options are really out there for me?
I was unwilling to uproot the family and move to a place with more job opportunities so I had to think of something local. That’s when I remembered that, once, long ago, I wanted to be a teacher. My original plan after college was to busk on the streets of Europe for a while before coming home and going to graduate school for music. Of course, my path took a sharp right turn shortly after graduation when I met The Fair Piper.
For the longest time I hadn’t forgotten about that plan but, as life progressed, I kept telling myself that it would be too costly to go to school now. I hid behind a wall of responsibility rather than finding out what the real possibilities were. But one of the things I learned from trying to buy the business is that it never hurts to ask. Maybe your current responsibilities won’t allow you to pursue something… but then again maybe it will work out.
So I began asking. I talked to a couple of my professors from Union College and reached out to a former school district superintendent that I happened to know. After that I reached out to a couple local schools. I quickly learned that there are plenty of programs out there for people just like me. And to cut a long story short, I ended up being accepted to Bloomsburg University in their Master’s of Education program.
The program allows me to attend classes after work or, sometimes, online and I can even start looking for teaching positions before I’ve graduated. One change I had to make was that my original plan was to teach music but my undergraduate degree was in physics, so I’m going to start with that instead. It will be a bit easier and has the added benefit of not much job competition. Physics teachers are in high demand and there aren’t many of us running around.
I’m now on the path to a new career that will be much more fulfilling and stable than my current. And all I had to do to start down that path was to ask a few questions. Something that seemed daunting, expensive, and unreasonable quickly refocused as winning choice for me. Not all of life’s dreams will turn out that way but you won’t know for sure until you try it.
Hard Learning 