The 5 a.m. Alarm

This picture has nothing to do with the post--I was just reminded how much I loved this cheese spread when I lived in France. It seems very rare these days that someone actually loves their job. I hear so many stories of people getting up and going to a job they hate. I have a ton of friends who feel exactly this way. Back when I began college, my first major was economics. It was actually something that I loved, thanks to a great (and by great, I mean fantastic) high school econ teacher. After my second econ class, I decided that it wasn't for me. Unfortunately, thanks to a poor (and by poor, I mean horrible) macro-economics professor. She was one of those professors who would sneer and correct you if you called her Mrs. instead of Dr. I remember my mom being really upset that I had changed my major, because she felt as though I was giving up an opportunity to be independently wealthy in the business world. This wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation, and by this time, I felt I was old enough to make my own decisions concerning my future. The same semester I had the horrible macro professor, I had a really good psychology professor. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but I was happy, and that was ll that mattered at the time. Since then, and even to this day, I refuse to take a job based on money. I always say that I couldn't imagine getting up everyday depressed because I hate myself because of my job. I think that I am a product of my generation. The "millennials" as I believe we are called, are much less elf-serving, and much more altruistic than our predecessors. I cannot count the number of people I know in the Peace Corps, Teach for America, doing mission trips to Asia and Africa, building housing for the victims of the tsunami, etc... I could write about this for a while, so I'll have to revisit the topic. In short, I love my job, and cannot think of anything else I could happily way of at 5 am for. It's a great feeling when your students genuinely want to learn and are interactive in class (obviously, not every classroom is like this!). There are, of course, the days when you want to strangle them, but they are teenagers, so I can put it in perspective. I can much better deal with a 15 year-old being unreliable or moody,than a 40 year-old! I know that most of my students will not use French in the future, but just knowing that I have exposed them to a different culture, a different way of doing things, is enough for me. There are many students that I have that very strong in French. Those I will encourage to continue, so that they might have an opportunity to turn it into something that will be of use to them in the future. Although I am tired most of the time, I'm glad I'm tired from something that I enjoy.