Career: Part 1.
I was 20 years old and something got rattled in me. I started to realize there was more to life than a nice, traditional story of teaching plus marriage and children. Two things happened that caused the shake up.
I had had a serious boyfriend during my first three years of college at the UW Madison-Wisconsin. He was a nice, midwestern athlete from the same, small town in Wisconsin where I grew up. He graduated from the UW with a teaching degree and was embarking on a career as a Physical Education teacher.
I remember driving the 30-minutes back to campus from his house one Sunday evening. I could envision how my future was unfolding, and for the first time it became clear that this wasn't going to work out. I simply wanted more - though I had no idea what "more" actually meant. It was a quick break up - nothing messy or dramatic.
That same year, one week before I was to start my final year of college, I went to the UW bookstore to buy my books. As my basket grew heavier I felt a huge sense of dread. Skimming though each of the textbooks another decision became clear: I did not want to be an elementary school teacher.
I went home and told my mom that I needed to drop out of college. After many conversations, she convinced me not to drop out of school, but instead talk with a school counselor to find out what my options were.
It was the first week of my fourth year of college - and I was back at square one.
