Three Events

 Three Events

 

I was listening to the Atlas Obscura podcast yesterday and the question was posed: What three events define who you are? And It only took me a moment to define them.

 

Spring 1973- TRAVEL: I went to Italy for spring break, and it turned my life around. It filled me with wanderlust and to date, I have been to all 7 continents, 49 states in the USA and roughly 85 countries and counting.

 

September 1973- College: I was a poor high school student who has no interest in anything I was taught.  I went to school because I had to go. I never liked.  I never gave it a try.  I had a lot of failure.  To compensate for my failures, I used my humor which is a little off for some people.  So, I also had a few discipline issues as well. I finally graduated and thought I was finished with my education.  But my father had a different plan.  He mandated that I go to college. So, I found a junior college with open enrollment.  I got accepted and went with the idea that I would flunk out.  But that didn’t happen. Since I was allowed to pick my own classes, I finally found subject matter that interested me. Most of my work involved giving presentations and I could do that, and I was having some academic success for the4 first time. I eventually went on to earn a BS, a Masters of Education  and a Doctorate of Education.

 

September 1981- First Professional Job: I went on to earn my Master’s degree in Secondary Counseling.  I was 26 and just hired as a high school guidance counselor in a public school in rural PA.  I am from Philly, so I was disappointed that I ended up in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the state.  But the minute I started interacting with the students, I loved my job, and I loved my profession.  I had found my place in the world of work.  I went on to be an assistant principal, a high school principal and a director of student services.