When I graduated from high school, the plan was for me to become a computer programmer. My dad thought that was a great career path for me and I liked computers, so I went along with it until the car ride to Summer Orientation to Murray State University, where I would be attending college. I can remember my dad and I talking about my upcoming classes and then I dropped the “bomb” on him. I told him that I had decided to be a teacher with an early childhood education degree and would not be registering for the computer courses like he had planned. My mind was made up and he knew it, so I made the necessary registration changes and forgot about my career as a computer programmer.
I was going after an early childhood education degree with a middle school endorsement. I thought teaching would be a great career. Once I had children, they would be able to attend school where I worked and we would enjoy our summers and holidays together except for a few teacher work days throughout the year. I graduated from college with my early childhood education degree and found a job teaching fifth grade at a magnet school in Louisiana. I loved my job and especially my students, but when I had my first child, my feelings changed. I didn’t want to take my son to daycare while I worked, so I applied for early retirement and stayed home with my baby. I missed the “school scene,” but loved my new role of “stay at home mom.” 12 years later, here I am, a stay at home mom blogger with a teaching degree. Do you think having a blogging career comes close to my father’s dream that I would grow up to become a computer programmer? I don’t think so, but I still love computers and I work on them more now then I ever did in the classroom. What do you think? Did your parents play a role in choosing what you’d become when you grew up?