My Reasons for Being...
Camping at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore- 2008
The biggest influences on my life are my
children, besides being the impetus to wake up in the morning and the reason
for crashing into my bed every night, they have imparted me with an incredible
drive to achieve and an undeniable passion for life.
Growing up the middle daughter of well-loved elementary school teachers, I found the advantages of spending time with family more important than the benefits of a high-powered career. That being said and discouraged by my parents to enter the teaching profession, I diligently obtained a degree in Landscape Architecture.
This was a fascinating- yet unfulfilling- career. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the group effort required for a design team to take a project from infancy to fruition, the creative spark necessary to communicate an idea to a client and the dedication to generate a set of construction documents adhering to site requirements, environmental concerns and local zoning laws, I found the "challenge" of designing every other parking lot in southeast Michigan to be less than what I was looking to contribute in life.
After 6 years in the profession I made a career change to "stay-at-home-mom"; though staying at home was the least of my activities. With my family and the freedom from the restraints of an 8 to 5 office job, I traveled, restored homes, volunteered in my community, became an "actress" in a semi-professional musical theater, learned to play the ukulele, created fabulous Halloween costumes and completely enjoyed spending time with my young brood. Now that my children are all blossoming in our local public schools, I feel the need to take my desires off the "back burner" and pursue a career that I find stimulating, rewarding and vital. The energy my children exhibit infuses me with the ambition of achieving this new goal- demonstrating to my children the value of determination.
During the years I dedicated to my children I frequently contemplated my future career path: veterinarian, computer animator, event planner, window dresser, rock star? Finally, it was the lucky intervention of (someone else's) pregnancy that gave me the opportunity to work in my daughter's school library and directed me to the School of Information.
The eight weeks I devoted to my position as "Long-term Substitute Media Specialist" gave me remarkable insight and joy. I absolutely loved and looked forward to every day! After the first week, I realized that I couldn't remember five days in my previous career that I enjoyed more than my first five days at Bates Elementary School. This insight made me realize that I should pursue this profession.
The irony of the situation does not elude me. With teachers as parents, hours of time spent volunteering in schools and a love for learning- it's unfortunate I haven't already been an educator for 20 years. Nevertheless, now is the right time for me to realize my dreams. I am inspired by excitement, desire and my new favorite mug (that fittingly my three children gave to me) which encouragingly states, "Life Begins at Forty!"
Jennifer:)
Growing up the middle daughter of well-loved elementary school teachers, I found the advantages of spending time with family more important than the benefits of a high-powered career. That being said and discouraged by my parents to enter the teaching profession, I diligently obtained a degree in Landscape Architecture.
This was a fascinating- yet unfulfilling- career. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the group effort required for a design team to take a project from infancy to fruition, the creative spark necessary to communicate an idea to a client and the dedication to generate a set of construction documents adhering to site requirements, environmental concerns and local zoning laws, I found the "challenge" of designing every other parking lot in southeast Michigan to be less than what I was looking to contribute in life.
After 6 years in the profession I made a career change to "stay-at-home-mom"; though staying at home was the least of my activities. With my family and the freedom from the restraints of an 8 to 5 office job, I traveled, restored homes, volunteered in my community, became an "actress" in a semi-professional musical theater, learned to play the ukulele, created fabulous Halloween costumes and completely enjoyed spending time with my young brood. Now that my children are all blossoming in our local public schools, I feel the need to take my desires off the "back burner" and pursue a career that I find stimulating, rewarding and vital. The energy my children exhibit infuses me with the ambition of achieving this new goal- demonstrating to my children the value of determination.
During the years I dedicated to my children I frequently contemplated my future career path: veterinarian, computer animator, event planner, window dresser, rock star? Finally, it was the lucky intervention of (someone else's) pregnancy that gave me the opportunity to work in my daughter's school library and directed me to the School of Information.
The eight weeks I devoted to my position as "Long-term Substitute Media Specialist" gave me remarkable insight and joy. I absolutely loved and looked forward to every day! After the first week, I realized that I couldn't remember five days in my previous career that I enjoyed more than my first five days at Bates Elementary School. This insight made me realize that I should pursue this profession.
The irony of the situation does not elude me. With teachers as parents, hours of time spent volunteering in schools and a love for learning- it's unfortunate I haven't already been an educator for 20 years. Nevertheless, now is the right time for me to realize my dreams. I am inspired by excitement, desire and my new favorite mug (that fittingly my three children gave to me) which encouragingly states, "Life Begins at Forty!"
Jennifer:)
