by Mr.Dayfield Lewis

Created on: May 27, 2008

By chance.

You never wake up and decide you are going to be a Doctor, or for that matter be in stripping. A series of events unfold, that lead you into the rest of your working life. This is truly what happened to me. Growing up, I always liked art and creating drawings. I'm not gifted in the regards of athletics, and rather preferred a pencil in my ear. Neither, was I too ambitious about education. Still, the time came after high school, when I had to make a choice of what to do. Fortunate, having only a father, he nudged me to make the decision of going into a two year school. There I met people who expanded my world, history professors and art instructors were my favorites. Picking my major wasn't to challenging either. If I was getting in trouble for drawing in class as a young man, then I might as well receive praise for it later down the road. I did well in school and time flew by, I now needed to find something more then retail, something substantial. For the amount of education I met, I still didn't meet the requirement for most careers. This was discouraging since I really needed work. My dream and goals(animation shows and comics) had to wait, I figured, find something that at least held relevance to my interest. Following more of father's advice, Ironically I decided to get involved teaching art. He said, " Find a career that had structure." The only problem with teaching, was understanding how children operated.

That upcoming summer I found a camp counseling job. The children were crazy, anyone with some know already. Despite, there high energy levels, I found a certain peace I hadn't known since my youth. From that point, I juggled doing odd jobs, while working with youth programs and in elementary schools. The most unforgettable was working in a troubled children's home. I often was stabbed with pencils and had chairs thrown at my head. I even had entire trays of food dumped on me. It's true at times they were vicious but, they still held a innocence that would have be stripped from most people. I found myself leaving there due to union fights and depressing stories that added up too quickly. Looking back with the experience I have with children, I know I want to commit myself to their overall development anyway positive. I hope now to return to school, so I will be able to teach full time. Going back will give me the credentials and self-improvement needed to preform that teaching position accurately. Even though my story is one of a kind, it's still very common. Pursue a dream then follow that path, if your lucky you will get to the end. If your blessed you'll find a side road. The most important thing is to always keep looking, stay involved, and keep an open mind, even if debt is piling up.

Ps. Having some of my own children will have to wait till later.

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