Who I Am, Now and Then

By what part of your current self do you think your younger self would be pleasantly surprised?

Being able to cook: Apart from making Christmas cookies, I don’t remember having much interest in cooking as a child, or even a teenager. The fact that I make dinner for all of us during the week? That alone would make my younger head spin, but the fact that I bake from scratch and have dinner parties for friends and family alike? Mind-boggling.

Not being paralyzingly shy anymore: this again lasted long through my teenage years, and while I’m still at my most awkward when faced with a crowd, I’ve come a long way from the days when speaking to strangers would make me terrified and frozen with fear.

Being a high school teacher: I remember thinking distinctly as a teenager that teaching high school was a gig for suckers, quite frankly. Growing up with teachers in my family gave me a backstage look at just how overworked, underpaid and underappreciated high school teachers (especially those in public schools) really are, and I swore I’d never fall for it. But now I have found my vocation, and am constantly thrilled at how lucky I feel to have found my home in teaching.

And finally, just how grown up I really am.  I go to the bank and sometimes even clean all the things! And sure, sometimes the wheels feel like they are about to fall off, but but overall? I am keeping all the balls in the air just fine.