Gettin' philosophical: dreams don't work unless you do.

"Dreams don't work unless you do."

A co-worker of mine has this displayed in her classroom. This is not only excellent advice, but it directly relates to my life. Many people in my family were taught while growing up that nothing good comes easily. If you wanted it, you had to work for it. And if it was worth getting, working hard wasn't a problem. Hard work was heavily valued, and so was determination. Both of those things go hand in hand.

Hard work played into my life majorly. I knew as a child I wanted to be a writer, but I had a persistent, almost nagging voice in the back of my mind trying to persuade me to be a teacher. I managed to convince myself not to listen, that I wanted no part of teaching. I never could completely silence the voice. After two and a half years as a journalist, I realized I truly wasn't happy and the only think that could make me happy was to teach.

So, I became a teacher assistant so I could catch a glimpse of what I might be getting myself into. I also enrolled in NC State University's Master of Arts in Teaching program. After working hard all day at the elementary school, I'd drive to Raleigh and work hard in class until 9:30 at night. My two and a half years of grad school were some of the most stressful, overwhelming years of my life. I worked hard. As a new wife, I often didn't see my husband until 10:00 at night. It was tough, but at graduation, I knew I'd done the right thing. My first week as a student teacher? I knew I'd made the right choice.

Ten years ago, if you had told me I would teach middle school English, I would have laughed at you. If you had told me ten years ago, I'd be married and be the mother of a little girl, I would have laughed at you. But, here I am. And I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

I've come a long way so far. First and foremost, the love of a patient God and his hand guiding me had everything to do with it, but some other things also had positive affects. Hard work had a lot to do with it. Determination had a lot to do with it.  A supportive family and supportive friends had a lot to do with it.

The entire purpose of this post was to expound on how far I have come and how grateful I am for having gotten this far. I am not bragging, I am simply reminding myself to be grateful for the journey.

It is my hope these same core values that are ingrained within me will also be ingrained in my own child's being. Dream big, but understand that unless you're willing to work for it, it isn't going to happen.