The Decision...

1st thing you should know about me: I LOVE PEOPLE.  I just finished an AMAZING first year of teaching this past school year.  I had soo much fun teaching Biology and Chemistry at a nearby high school; it was a one-year contract and while I was working, I kept thinking, what should I do this coming fall?  I ended up falling in love with teaching more than I knew... my students were amazing, it really seemed like they were enjoying themselves, and I was definitely having a lot of fun teaching them.  Though.. lets be real, my opinion of my classes vs the reality of what the students think, are both probably very different.. But that is not the point of this entry now is it? Lets move on...

The 2nd thing you should know about me: I LOVE TRAVELING!  This passion developed in high school, when I was threatened with losing my life, and I decided I would never let a day go by where I would not live as much as I could.  To me, living means exploring, discovering, and learning as much as I can about what we have been given, with the time we have been given.  

Before we move on, the 3rd thing you should know about me is: I LOVE SHARING.  I love sharing and teaching experiences, and the things I have learned with others.  I also love the idea of being able to inspire others, not from what I have read from any book, but from the things I have experienced and discovered first hand.  One of the main reasons I decided to teach, was not to just teach content, but to teach and inspire my students to truly live and learn.  To me this means that as long as my students are living out their passion, and loving it, they are truly living.  

So.. here is where I started having a lot of trouble deciding what to do this fall.. I loved to teach, but I loved to travel too.. I couldn't decide!  So, after much praying, thinking, and talking with others...

I was still undecided! 

I have always said I wouldn't let myself get caught up in a job when it came to my #1 passion of travelling; in fact.. it was one of my greatest fears when deciding my major in college, to let the greed of having money mask my longing to travel the world.  But its different now; I do not teach for the money, I teach to inspire and learn.  I also don't have much money, I have enough to get by while travelling, but not to go too crazy with spending while over there.. Also, I didn't know if I'd have a travel companion... 

So, I decided to go for both, and see what my options could be.  

I started filling out applications for teaching at high schools around the area, and across the US (Colorado & Alaska).  I went through many interviews; some that went really well, and some not so well.. I got called back for 2nd, 3rd, and final interviews... But I started to notice that in the back of my mind, I was hoping I wouldn't get a job, so it would just make the decision for me.  I wanted to reflect on this; I knew I had a passion to travel, but I also had a new passion, to teach.  

So why was travel winning? 

After looking into myself, praying (a lot), talking to others, I realized that I have the rest of my life to teach.  Sure, I have no doubt that if I would have taught this year, I would've loved it, but I realized that if I taught this year, I would have done just that, loved it... and I would have stayed to teach another year and another and another.. I would have been trapped (my fear).  I would be loving it, but why not just postpone that by a year... and just start that life next year.  There would be no room for regret then.  There's not going to be another point where it is so easy to leave a school to travel, I will never want to leave a school if I love it there.  

So it seemed like this past one-year contract, living at home, not being in a committed relationship, and not being 26 for another year (where I would have to start paying a lot for med insurance). is ending up to be absolutely perfect for this decision, and I think it would be silly not to take this opportunity.  

I didn't want to regret never taking a trip where I could just be completely free.. and not have to worry about coming back for any kind of commitment (ex: summer break).  

So finally, what have I decided to do? 

Travel.