Dear Abby

Dear Abby,

I have applied to a Master's Program, two actually, one of which takes me upon a path which I am passionate about, the other a field of which I love.  Herein is my problem, many will ask or rather state, there is no difference between what you are passionate about and what you love./?  I disagree, obviously.  One program is interdisciplinary, while the other is Rhetoric in English.  While they both call to me, I feel one I am truly passionate about, but as my Interdisciplinary advisor stated, or rather posed, "this is a great proposal, however I don't quite see where you are going with this."  

I imagine tens of thousands of high school students, ask the same thing of themselves.  "Do I become a doctor, which would make my family happy, or do I become a writer, which would make me happy."  My father didn't care if I didn't want to be a Doctor, or--as a nurse once said, "sit down you are turning yellow, and I can't pick you up if you faint," all he cared about was me becoming a Doctor.  I hated him for that while I was growing up.     

But this is why I decided to become a high school teacher a long time ago, I wanted to empower students and drive in the point that, parent(s) want you to become something that you may not like, because American society is fundamentally ruled by money, and money equates to security, and security provides a foundation for happiness.  But as we age, we being to understand that happiness is found in pursing what we want to do, whether we are poor or wealthy, we want to be happy, and our family will mitigate their expectation when they see that we are truly happy.  And this was meant to be my message to my high school students.  

But as it stands, I am unsure if this is a career I will pursue, quite frankly, I doubt.  My student teach experience was so bad, that perhaps I need to learn or understand that a school district doesn't want or expect a teacher with tattoos, jeans, and t-shirt who owns nothing but an old motorcycle.  They want the married, young, no tattoos, 2.5 kids with a white picket fence person, as an educator.  

Perhaps I shouldn't seek to empower anyone at the secondary level; as far as the college of university level is concerned, that is a whole other matter.  

Signed, 

Careerly Compromised

Collaboration

Collaboration is always difficult, but a true necessity. This weekend I attended a student conference in regards to unionizing, mobilizing and politicizing students in the United States.  Although that in itself was a stimulating experience, that evening I traveled back to the distant lands of Palmdale, California to visit family.  I talked with a friend of the family over dinner that evening, who is notorious for taking over the conversations.  She asked me about the conference, its purpose, and what I expected to come of it.  The conversation quickly escalated to a debate in front of the family which escalated, not to a stage of anger, but simply to that of momentary loss of reason.  In the end of it all, she agreed on the principles and approach of the movement, but not the specific example or “target” of University President that I used to drive that example.  I live for these conversations, whether right or wrong I always feel I take something away, and I was pleasantly surprised at what she said, halfway through our debate, “if we agree or not it is always good to learn to talk to other people who have different view points, and learn to deal with them!”

I love her for saying this, since this is one of the main driving points of collaboration.  Yes, most of the time you will have a wonderful group, and everything goes smooth and everything is fine. But that is not always the case, sometimes we will not agree with the viewpoints of others, but you still have a common goal you must work with.  At this moment, I have a co-worker whom I know is very smart and intelligent and I recognize this in him, however, I feel his drive needs immediate improvement.  But I must recognize the fact that, that may be an area which can improve but will never meet my expectation—and that is ok.  I must learn to make up for that deficit and his intelligence and background will make up for some of my own.  It will not be easy, and we will not agree, but it is human nature and it is something I must constantly strive to remind myself of.  With that said, dealing and engaging with different perspectives will only expand your own perspective, and I find that an essential quality to have.