When I Grow Up I Want to Be . . .

When I was little  and my mom was putting us to bed for the night there was this sentence that my sisters and I would recite after stories  and bedtime prayers.  It went like this:

When I grow up I want to be a mommy, teacher, lifeguard, firefighter, artist, park ranger, deputy game protector . . .

And the list would go on depending on our moods that night or what we were thinking about that day.

The jobs we listed were the jobs  that we knew about.  My mom was a mommy and we wanted to be just like her.  My dad was a teacher, park ranger, and a deputy game protector.  Sometimes he drove the ambulance for the volunteer fire department.  My sisters and I would watch the young lifeguards dressed in  their red swim suits at the swimming pool  located in the state park where my dad  worked as a park ranger.  Also we knew we were artists when we painted watercolor pictures with the paints in our paint boxes.  We would add on to the list if we saw something cool on Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood or had a interesting experience out in public.

It is funny because I can still remember the list even now and I know that my sisters can probably remember it too.

I am thankful for those conversations that we had with my mom about what we wanted to be when we grew up for many reason.  They certainly taught me that  I could be anything I wanted to be.  I am  thankful that I never felt limited to certain career possibilities because of my femaleness.  There are other reasons too that they influenced my worldview.

I am  the most grateful for those conversations  because they taught me that I didn’t have to be just one thing.  I have always been the kind of person with a lot of interests.  I like science but I also like writing.  I like books but I also like interacting with people.  I like being outside but I also like using computers.  I like being a mommy but I also like working at the library.

I majored in Geoenvironmental Studies as an undergraduate because I like earth science, biology, and the way that different subjects interconnect to help us learn more about the earth.  The only problem with this major was that I could never see a clear career path.  There were times in college when I wished that I majored in something with a clear career path like accounting.  I would make a terrible accountant because precision is not my strong suit but I  wished that I was doing something like that because it seemed so easy to know what you wanted to be when you grew up.

I found my way though.  I ended up teaching environmental education at a camp and conference center which I loved working at.  Then I ended up applying to library school after being evangelized by a librarian conference guest on a weekend hike.  I love librarianship and I find that my background in teaching children environmental education is useful in children’s librarianship and working with adult weekend conference center guests is useful with working with adults in the library.

My parents have always encouraged me in my education, pursuits, and job changes.  They have been very encouraging about this blog as well, which is just another way that I am exploring my interests.

I have had a lot of jobs in my life and for the most part I have had a great time doing most of them.  I am not the kind of person who is just born to do one thing.  I still have trouble embracing that aspect of myself sometimes  but I am very thankful that they have always encouraged me to try all the things I have wanted to try.

So thank you Mom and Dad!  I did grow up to be a mommy and a teacher (not a lifeguard,  deputy game protector, ambulance driver or park ranger) but I did work in the environmental field and I do feel like I am dabbling in artistic pursuits when I blog.

Here is a picture of me being a mom.  I am sitting beside my mom, my oldest is seated in my lap.  My  sister Liz is seated next to me.