"It takes a certain type of [wom]an to teach" -Drake

     To the absolute astonishment of about every person I know I am going to college with the hopes of becoming a teacher. My major is English and my minor is in Secondary Education, yes I really do want to be a high school teacher.  I guess people were surprised with my choice because of my previous plans to move to Alaska and become a bear biologist as well as my intense distaste for children. However...because I coach a swim team 5 days a week I've steadily grown to love children.

     I don't think there is any better feeling than knowing you have taught a child something worthwhile.  Coaching in my opinion is synonymous with teaching.   I've had to learn how to balance making them better athletes, maintaining control through the use of disciplinary action while still making sure the children are always having fun.  My coaching job is not  an easy one and oftentimes  I refer to it as "a real grown person job" "I'm really too young to be feelin this old" -Drake

 Sometimes I wonder if anything will change once I become a teacher.... I guess I'll just have a new batch of kids in that I'll have to teach.

Southerm Girl??

What does it mean to be Southern?  Do you have to be born in the South? Or just raised there?  I was not born here but I was definitely raised in South Carolina.  However,  I do not consider myself a "Southern Girl" and nor do I ever want to be seen as such.  The typical southern belle is a conservative pearl wearing girl whose whose lifetime aspiration is to get married and have babies. It saddens me to see that though it is the year 2010 many girls still do not wish to have a career or life of their own.

I don't know if I agree...

 

I'd also like to talk about the south in general.  People always say the southerners are the friendliest people in the world and it is usually referred to as Southern Hospitality.  However I sometimes wonder if this so called Southern Hospitality can better be called Southern Fakery.   People in the south tend to smile in your face and appear to be the kindest most gentlest human beings alive but as soon as you turn your back the nasty comments come flying.

I do say ya'll alot and love sweet tea, so does that make me southern? I hope not!

"The simplistic beauty that all of those southerners have" -Drake

I ♥ you mom

"I'm urgin all daughters to kiss their mothers...you're never too old to kiss and hug her" -Drake

Another similarity between myself and the rapper Drake is our intense love for our mothers. Everyone loves their mom but for some reason I feel like our love for her is a bit stronger.  Both of us never had a strong fatherly presence growing up so maybe this explains why our mothers are so important to us.  Drake's mom and dad split when he was just five so the only time he saw his father was over the summer when he would visit him at his home in Memphis, TN.  My father was in the military so he was gone for long stretches at a time and then when he finally retired he began to work for the government in Kuwait. Other than Christmas and summer break I never saw him. My mom and dad eventually divorced 2 years ago and because my dad still works overseas I still never see him.

"and to my dad even though we were apart I couldn't leave you out, you're forever in my heart " -Drake

Like Drake I love my dad but because of his absence throughout my life,  I was never able to develop the type of connection with him that I have with my mom.

"She has been the most supportive person I have ever had in my life—the only person that loves me unconditionally, really. I know a lot of people love me and I love a lot of people. But to love somebody unconditionally is different."    -Drake

                                                                                                                                                 

"Thanks to my mother for never giving up, you deserve the world now go on and live it up" -Drake

FYI Drake just recently canceled the rest of his sold out European tour to be at home with his ill mother.He probably would have been able to further advance his career had he continued touring but Drake's mother is infinitely more important to him than his career.

"I just wanna be successful" - Drake and Trey Songz

Drake wanted to be a hip hop star and in his song Successful he defines success as having cars, clothes, money and hoes.  I too aspire to be successful except I define success as simply attaining happiness.  Happiness and success are inextricably linked and it is impossible to talk about one without mentioning the other.  In today’s society everyone wants a good job that will allow them to live in a nice house and drive a nice car. Why? Because for most people it is these material possessions that they believe will make them happy.  To an extent I’m also part of this materialistic society, however I do recognize the fact that money alone cannot buy happiness. Though it can’t buy happiness it DEFINITELY helps.  Think about it: are homeless people or families on welfare ever depicted as being especially happy? The answer is obviously no.  The source of their unhappiness probably stems from their inability to live comfortably.  However it is important to note that the standards involved in living comfortably have significantly changed over the years.  Once upon a time a person was thought to be living comfortably if he or she just had their basic needs met.  But then as time progressed there become new tools to separate the haves from the have nots.  Advertisers began to make it their mission to make you believe you needed a certain something in order to feel happy and fulfilled.  In turn those who couldn’t afford the newest ipod or flat screen TV then felt as if something was missing from their lives.   The truth of the matter is more often than not nothing is missing in these people lives.  People are just made to think something is lacking and then despairingly strive to attain material objects because they think it’s the key to their happiness. Life’s a balancing act between what u want, what you think you want and what you actually need.

I firmly believe that if a person is healthy and has their basic needs met they should feel a certain degree of happiness.  However, sadly society is constantly telling a person whether it is through commercials or billboards that they need the latest in everything  if they want to be happy.   I’d like to again bring up the idea of being successful and how its currently defined. Let me give an example of a  cardiac surgeon making 250,000 dollars a year living in a 400,00 dollar house in the suburbs and a swim coach that barely makes 20,000 and rents a 3 bedroom apartment. I think most people would say without hesitation that the surgeon is a far more successful individual then the swim coach. However I conveniently left out that the surgeon is battling prostate cancer, has a wife who cheats on him and although he fervently wanted to has no children because they were unable to conceive.   He was never passionate about being a surgeon and only pursued such a career to follow in the family’s footsteps.  His real love was for teaching but knew his family would forever condemn him had he chose such a career. The swim coach on the other hand is healthy, happily married and has 2 children whom he adores.  The swim coach chose his salary in an effort to make his program affordable to more families.  Swimming is known as being an expensive sport that is primarily made up of upper middle class whites. The entire family is actively involved in the sport and hopes that in time money will no longer deter people away from the sport.  I’d also like to mention that these examples are not fictional, I know both the surgeon and swim coach.   Who now would you consider successful? This example shows that money should never be the sole indicator of success. “Money just changed everything I wonder how life without it would go…”   -Drake