It's around midnight on a Friday -- my, how life has changed. Instead of being up to no good or out socializing, I'm sitting at the dining room table, munching on nachos and wondering when my son might wake up next. Sleep isn't coming easily tonight. I'm trying to muster up the strength to convince myself that this upcoming school year will be a good one, but I'm hitting too many roadblocks. Trying to look beyond all of the negatives that have already begun looming is proving to be quite difficult. Looking at where I'm at right now really makes me wonder how I got here in the first place.
Each and every one of us is where we are right now because God has plans for us all. Sure, we all have hit many forks in the road along the way, making some smart decisions that take us to nice places or making poor decisions that put us on lousy detours, but God has always guided us. He always gives us signs; the highway of life isn't as poorly marked as we sometimes claim it to be. Often, we simply overlook the obvious mile markers and warning signs along the way. We become too obtuse or too distracted to see the signs as we approach them, but they are frustratingly visible as we look back on the road we've just traveled.
I ask you this question: Wherever you are right now, how did you get there? What are some of the pivotal events in your life that have steered you toward this very moment? What are these top 5 events?
I look at my current job as an English teacher and wrestling coach, and my "Top 5" list is easy to make. Here is a recap of the journey I've been on:
1) Watching "Clash of the Titans" for the first time interested me in Greek mythology, which is one of my favorite parts of teaching. The movie was cheesy as can be, but it triggered something in me. It gave rise to a life-long enjoyment of mythology. As an eight-year-old boy, I was more interested in the sword fights, the flying horse, the ghastly Gorgon, and the heroism of Perseus than I was about anything else from the story. This was the first time I remember being interested in something remotely academic. I wanted more of the story, more of the mythology. I discovered Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" and read it cover to cover in 3rd grade. My teacher, who up to that point must have written me off as an ornery pain in the butt, admitted to me that she was impressed with how I voluntarily read about a subject that she never studied until she was in college. From that book, I learned all about the Olympians and their symbolic importances, heroes such as Odysseus (I pronounced his name "Oh-dee-soos") and Heracles (I'd always thought his name was Hercules...), and stories of transformation, love, or punishment. From the Greek stories I discovered Roman and later Norse mythology, and to this day I remember vividly countless times when I found myself speaking expertly on matters relating to the ancient Greeks.
2) Senior AP English was not really an event, but more of a culmination of events. My 2nd semester class had only 6 of us in it, and I vividly remember when Mrs. Davis told me that I had a knack for poetry. I had been sitting in my desk, either nodding off or pretending that I had actually read the assignment (and praying she wouldn't call on me), and I earnestly answered a question about a poem. It was the direct eye contact from the teacher, the sincere tone of her voice, and the pleased smile as she said it. My mother had always forced me into taking these honors classes, and I floundered my way through the English ones -- either barely making a B or almost getting an A -- but it was my final semester of high school English that I earned my first-ever A in an honors English class. I had feared that Honors English would be the death of my GPA, but that dedication and forced-patience really came through, and I don't think I ever would have found it had it not been for the confidence given me by that one teacher.
3) Sophomore year helping coach at the 9th/10th Topeka High wrestling meet. Coach Harris wouldn't let me wrestle; he said something about it not being appropriate for me to wrestle down a level. Although I wouldn't be allowed to compete, I wanted to support the team and help out. They had the meet spread out between two gymnasiums and there were only two coaches there. When we had multiple kids wrestling and both coaches were already occupied with other matches, I felt obliged to coach from the corner. It felt natural to me. Eventually, one of the coaches made it to the mat and took over, but it was at this meet that I jokingly told Coach (Kit) Harris that I was after his job. Four years later, I was his assistant coach at Baldwin. I eventually did take over his job three times, to be exact (we both taught video productions, we're both English teachers, and he was once the head coach at WR).
4)Calc II study group my freshman year in college. Five or six of us met once a week in the library to go over problems assigned by the teacher (I won't say he was boring, but at the time I couldn't care less during his lectures). The frustrating thing about college math classes is that you don't have to turn in your daily assignments. When I realized this, I began to skip out on the assigned problems. One thing led to another and I found myself no longer at the head of the math class, as I had been in high school, and now at the bottom. During our study groups, I was actually doing the problems and understanding them; I began walking the others through the homework. Something felt right about the teaching part of it when I was able to explain the material to my confounded classmates. It was either Jeff or David that told me I had a knack for teaching.
5) Being a real wrestling coach for the first time. My freshman year in college, I helped out at Washburn Rural Middle School. The downside of this gig was that it meant I had to drive 45 minutes each way, every day for two months, but the upside was that it opened a new set of doors for me. I had a great deal of fun, and it really helped me figure out what to do next at a time where I wasn't all that sure as to where I was going or when I would get there. At the time, I was set to major in pre-engineering and go off after getting my BS to build bridges and construct dams and reservoirs. All I knew was that I wanted to make some money, I was good at math and physics, and my guidance counselor in high school had suggested engineering as a good career for me. From the time I started coaching, it wasn't long before I changed my major to mathematics with the intent to teach math. The next year I changed again from math to English and entered the school of education. Being a novice coach definitely convinced me that I could be a good coach, but it also taught me a thing or two about maturity. Working with 7th and 8th grade kids wasn't something I wanted to do the rest of my life, however.
And here I am, about to enter my 8th year as a teacher and my 6th year as a head coach. I know I haven't yet reached my destination, but remembering how I got here helps me forget the negatives that are already threatening to make this upcoming year a lousy one. It helps remind me of the excitement I feel thinking of being in front of a class or on the wrestling mat.
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