From+Then+To+Now

= **From Then To Now** = “Shhhhhh!” said my dad, “We have to be quiet. Your mom's still working.” I was four years old and standing in the back of the classroom at Riverside Community College. I was watching my mom teach her math class and everything else around me disappeared. This was exactly what I was meant to do with my life. I had other ideas about what I wanted to be when I grow up. Professional high school cheerleader was my first career choice. From that day forward, there was no doubt in my mind. I was going to be a teacher.

All through elementary school, I loved my teachers. They could do no wrong. In the back of my head, there was always a voice echoing “I'm going to be a teacher.” No one took me seriously. I was a little girl. It wasn’t until I was 10 years old and still wanted to be a teacher that people started listening to me. I started taking Spanish classes in junior high. I had wanted to learn how to speak Spanish before I wanted to be a teacher. The counselor told me it was too soon to be taking any classes to be a teacher, so Spanish class, it was.

By the time I was in high school the counselor and I had already talked. I wanted to be a teacher. She knew it. All of my elective classes were education based. I also continued taking Spanish classes. Every year there would be some sort of “Career Day". I was so focused on being a teacher I didn’t understand why we needed to learn about other careers. I never thought twice about other students and if they knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. I was going to be a teacher.

After an interesting childhood, I grew up quickly. High school graduation came and went. Afterwards, I got caught up with life. I enrolled in college but, after one semester it was time to focus on working full time. A few years later, when life calmed down, I started thinking about going back to college. I knew I would never become a teacher if I didn’t go back to college. The desire to be a teacher was not lost. I just took my own path to get there.