Life post-grad is not thought of as a time of self-discovery. It is viewed as a time for job interviews and the working world.  And while I'm not saying this is wrong, I'm saying it is certainly not for everyone. Some people know what they want by the time they graduate.  They have it all figured out and they will be happy with the life they settle into.  I'm not one of those people.  I have a lot of self-discovering to do.

I know that I want to be an educator.  I want to teach young children.  I want to positively affect their lives in the ways that my life has been positively affected by my teachers.  What I don't know is if I am ready to start that now.  Right now, I'm still figuring out who I am.  And maybe that is the perfect time to start educating children.  It will show them that grown ups, despite popular belief, don't have it all figured out all the time.  We all mess up and that's ok.

I know that I am free spirit and that I will always have a serious case of wanderlust.  I long to travel.  I can't sit still. I get a yearning for something new, and I want to experience it. So maybe a career in education was a selfish thing? How am I suppose to pack and leave to explore the world when I am suppose to be a good role model for the next generation of Americans. Hmm. Maybe that's where we have it all wrong?

What if teaching youth was more about life experiences and less about test scores? What if we were educating people on how to be happy. Because guess what, that's the only secret to living a long, peaceful life. You have to be happy.

I refuse to sit still. I refuse to let someone else dictate my future. My current travel plans are pretty full (Virginia, D.C., North Carolina, Vermont, and possibly Florida) and it makes me happy. But once the travel bug bites you, it doesn't go away.

So here's to hoping that North Carolina and I get along well enough for me to settle for a while. I think that maybe it is just the change I need. I survived four years of college in one place and only started feeling the yearning to move on towards the middle of year four.  I think I can do this.  And the only way to find out is to dive in head first.

PS--Who says I can't spend all my summers traveling the world? Hello teacher-life.