One of the many projects I did with my students this last six weeks was an autobiography book where they decorated pages depicting several different facts about themselves all from different capacities of their life. The very last page they decorated was about their future. I asked them to tell me what college they want to go to, what kind of career they wanted, what kind of family they would like to have, one dream they hoped to accomplish before they die, and a goal they have set for themselves; they had to answer why for each question as well. Being twelve, there are a lot of distinctions they don’t understand the difference between, so I had to define the difference between a goal and dream, as far as they were concerned both were interchangable. I established that a goal is a standard that you set for yourself that you know you can achieve in the near future based on ideal circumstances whereas a dream is something that is completely beyond yourself, bigger than you could accomplish on your own, unfathomable by your own means. Turns out, I’m twenty six and all the while, I too apparently have lived by the idea that goals and dreams are interchangable.
For about five years, all through the latter half of college and post-college, I wanted to work at a very specific school and teach 6th grade Writing specifically. I was blessed with that exact opportunity this past year. It was my dream! When I took that job, I had every intention of working there for a very long time; it’s that kind of school. The one where everyone there wants to be there and loves their job every day, not just some days. The kind of school where you are like family, not just fellow staff. I LOVED my school, and even though yesterday was my last day, I already miss it terribly.
Apparently somewhere along the way, I lost the distinction between a goal and a dream and it hit me all of a sudden mid-sentence while I was explaining it to my classes. Working at this school was what I thought to be my “dream job,” when in all reality I had merely acheived a goal. While the goal definitely wasn’t achieved on my own, it was all part of the rude awakening that God planned on sending my way all along. A rude awakening that has brought me great joy ever since it started unfolding late Fall, and one that I needed severely I might add.
All of this to say, I’m finally about to take part in a dream that I never knew I had. Every single day, a bazillion times a day, I think about it, pray about it, wonder about it, and they all lead to the same conclusion that I am ecstatic. Ecstatic to take part in a dream that is still completely surreal and unknown, but still not one that brings anxiety, nervousness or fear.
I cannot wait!
Here are some pictures of me with my students, my little spurts of happiness on a daily basis, even when they act like twelve year olds. haha
