Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads, not sure which direction to choose? Or, knowing that good things are at the end of each road, and you just have to decide which of those good things is the most important to you?
This is the crossroads I find myself at currently. When the school year ended last month, I bid farewell to my coworkers one last time. I walked down the hallway and saw my picture hanging on the wall, knowing it would be replaced by a new face this fall.
It was a bittersweet moment for me–bitter because I had enjoyed the opportunity to be back in the classroom after such a long hiatus being home with my kids while they were small, and sweet because I had discovered that the methods and approach used at this particular school were simply not in line with DAP and I was eager to leave that behind. It was a funny place to be in–loving my boss and coworkers and the positive environment we were able to work in, but feeling like I couldn’t be true to who I was as a teacher because of how things were set up.
Then, I went to Disneyland, which made everything all better, because…Disneyland cures everything!
Once we were home and I realized that sleeping in every morning and procrastinating chores all week long wasn’t the way I wanted to live my life, it was time to face my crossroads. Where was I headed next? Things on my list of considerations:
- Find a position at another preschool that was better aligned with my personal philosophies on how to best teach young children. This has proved easier said than done, without driving some distance from my home.
- Return to special education–with a degree that covers birth-age 22, the options here were nearly endless, but early childhood is really where my heart is. Although I’ve been in the classroom recently, I’m 18 years rusty on special education, so a paraeducator position for a year to test the waters seemed to make the most sense to me. I have interviewed already and have a couple of options in both preschool and early intervention (an area of special ed I have little experience in, but I find quite intriguing).
- Continue my education and pursue a masters degree. I’ve been exploring this option for quite some time and have narrowed it down to two schools with programs that interest me. That said, getting a masters degree is not an inexpensive pursuit, and the returns may not be great given the notoriously low pay in ECE. This option would primarily be for my own enrichment, which is not necessarily something to discount.
- Start my own preschool. Of all the options, this one excites and scares me the most! I know a lot about teaching preschool and almost nothing about running a business. There is a substantial up-front cost to this option, as we would need to finish our basement to house the preschool. But, the thought of being able to take all the knowledge in my head and apply it exactly the way it was intended to be is incredibly appealing.
I’m still standing at the signpost in the road, pointing the way to all of these possibilities. My feet are currently turned toward the path of starting a preschool of my own, and I feel this is likely the direction I will take…but there is a lot of work to complete before that can become a reality, and I still love the idea of some of my other options. I feel like none of these possibilities are necessarily “wrong”….they will all enrich my life in their own way…so I’m left to decide which is “good, better, best” for my own personal situation.
Such is life…one series of decisions after another, each adding a link to our chain of experiences. It’s an exciting time and I’m excited to see where I’m at one year from now!