Thoughts.

Many of you probably already know this, but I'm graduating in April from BYU with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. The thought of being a teacher never even crossed my mind until my Junior year of high school when I had a chance to work in the elementary schools frequently to teach about drug and alcohol abstinence. It was literally one day when it finally just hit me, that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I got to BYU my freshman year and eagerly declared my major, never looking back. I went to Peru in 2008 to work in an orphanage and the experiences I had there only solidified what I had been planning up to that point. Even working with the Especially for Youth program helped me to realize how much I loved teaching --- even if they were in high school. However, when it came time to actually apply for the program, I had a momentary freak out where I was unsure of what I really wanted to do. After spending an entire Christmas break looking at different majors, I finally went with my gut and applied to the program. As soon as I started it --- although it was time consuming and VERY busy --- I absolutely loved it.

Although we spend time on campus taking classes and such, we also spend 1 month of our 2nd semester in a lower grade classroom (I was in 1st) and 1 month of our 3rd semester in an upper grade classroom (I was in 5th). The first time I did this, I was in the classroom with one of my best pals Raegan. Looking back, we probably had no clue what we were doing --- but it was fun and the kids were super sweet AND funny. The second time I was in the classroom, I experienced a little bit of shock. 5th grade was WAY different than the sweet little 1st graders. By different, I mean sassy, crazy, hormonal, unfocused, slightly ADD, and at times, defiant. After the first week, I came home bawling and again, went through a momentary freak out where I suddenly honestly and truly believed that I had just wasted YEARS of education and that there was no way I actually wanted to repeat myself 34829 times a day, ask students to keep their seats on the ground, remind kids how to properly line up, and have to break up recess fights on a weekly basis. Yeah... that was not the job for me.

HOWEVER, I am not much of a quitter and so I courageously marched right back into the classroom the next week and gave it my all. Although the craziness and chaos never really did end, I came to learn how to teach and manage (as best as I could) them. But above all, I learned to love those hormonal and sassy kids for all that they were! Although I still had some doubts at times --- like when my professor insisted we write 20 page narrative lesson plans --- I felt like I was heading in the right direction.

About two weeks ago, I started my student teaching in Spanish Fork in a 6th grade class. Today as I was leaving school, I called my mom and unloaded about how grateful I am that this is what I'm doing. I love teaching and I love being with kids. I have the greatest mentor teachers (yes there are two of them!) ever. They each have different teaching methods, and I LOVE that. I learn so much from both of them and they have been more than I could have ever hoped for.

When I think back on all of the highs and lows of my education thus far, I realize that it has finally ALL been worth it. My professors were amazing and prepared me well. Although I am totally inadequate as a teacher, I feel more and more prepared each day. I truly was placed in this specific school with specific teachers and co-workers, and specific students for a reason. Every doubt I had before is gone. I am so grateful that I took the path I did --- now I just need to find myself a job for next fall!

Am I having a 'proud to be a Coug' moment right now? I think I am. I never really did know how much pride I had in my school until I realized I was graduating so soon. I have loved BYU. I have loved my professors (well, most of them) and I don't think it's by chance that I've had all of these experiences so far.