My future

First - I love my job. Most days. I am so lucky to be at my school and to have a job. The administration is so helpful when I have any problems and they are very encouraging about professional growth and development. I have some amazing co-workers and we have a blast. Most of my kids are really cool kids who want to be there and want to succeed. I have the occasional headaches of kids and I let those get to me too much. I guess I should appreciate the successes and not dwell on the faults.

With that being said, I miss being a student so much. I'm not saying that because I miss football, lazy days on the porch on White Avenue, having all my best friends around all the time, random runs to Brewster's, and working up in the president's office. I do miss those things, but I also appreciate them for what they were - an amazing experience. What I miss about being a student now is the learning. I miss being in the classroom as a student, not a teacher, so much. I absolutely loved engaging in a meaningful discussion about education. My favorite class was called "Issues and Challenges in Education." The woman that taught it was from Memphis and was in charge of the Urban School track for our education department. Her name was Susan Newsom. I would have stayed there talking to her about all the different challenges of education for hours after class if she would have let me. I just enjoyed it so much.

I have my Master's of Science in Teacher Education. Most people who have a Master's as a teacher have a Master's of Education so I think of myself as pretty special for having a better degree. With a 4.0 at that! (Not to boast... :) ). I am not satisfied with that, though. I have been looking around at degree programs and I think I've found one I really would love to pursue. I've been looking at University of Memphis since my life is here and I don't really want to uproot. Plus, **hopefully** someone will be in med school and so we'll need to be here!

Here is the program. It is an EdD in Education Policy Studies. I really feel that I would be genuinely interested in the studies of this program after reading the curriculum and goals. I'm not sure what I'd do with it but I could probably do a lot. Part of my wants to keep teaching aftr my 5 year term is up (I am doing the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program since I am teaching at a Title One school) and part of me yearns to do something else - I just have so many different ideas. Here is my list so far:

- CLUE teacher (this one is feasible even now - I'm admitted to the teacher pool).
- Assistant Principal
- college level education instructor
- curriculum coordinator for the system
- public policy specialist for education
- state representative

Ok I'm sure there are more but you get the idea. Anyway, I won't do the EdD thing for a bit - maybe two years. I want to get some legitamite experience first.