Decisions, Decisions

When you think about what you wanted to be when you were younger, what's the first thing that comes to mind? For me, it was always a writer or a teacher. So whenever I felt like I was hitting a wall with my current career, I would go back to the dream of doing one of those two things. In 2011, I started attending classes to become a high school teacher. Again in 2021, I began attending classes to become a high school teacher. As many of you know who have followed this blog for a bit, I was preparing to enter a third credential program (this time for social studies) after passing the three subtests of the CSET. 

Guess what? Classes for that credential program started today. I dropped all of those classes on Saturday. 

You might be thinking, "Why would you go through all of that trouble just to quit?" Well, let me tell you a little about this decision and where I'm at right now. 

Sometimes, our dreams change. Sometimes, the dreams we had when we were 15 or 20 or 25 or 30 change and that's ok. I'm 40 years old, and I'm just now realizing that it's ok to let go of the dreams we had for ourselves, and the dreams that other people had for us. My dream when I was 18 was to become a college professor, live in a rainy big city and write in my "spare" time. I didn't plan to have kids, I didn't plan to stay in California, and I definitely didn't plan to work in human resources. But, here I am. And you know what? For the most part, I'm happy things turned out the way they did. I have four beautiful kids and a good husband and a good life. Maybe dreams are meant to stay that way....

And maybe, our dreams turn into something else after awhile. To be perfectly honest, the thought of studying and being in school for the next year really made me tired. I'm not in the same place I was 20 or even 10 years ago, and that's ok. So I've decided to put my best effort into really making a solid career out of HR. I started working towards recertification of my PHR (Professional in Human Resources) and am applying and interviewing for HR positions. I am going to fully dive into that world and do my best to make it the career that I want it to be, along with the flexibility I've been granted over the years to still be a crazy sports mom and cheer my kids on through all of their activities. 

Perspective change and although I'm a little sad to give up that pipe dream of teaching, I think there's still maybe a way to do it. I could teach HR courses for community colleges. I could volunteer with high school kids in some capacity. The dream doesn't have to die completely, it can just look a little bit different at this stage of my life.