What will I be when I grow up?

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A few days ago, I was running errands with my mom, when we bumped into one of my high school teachers. I told her I was about to leave for graduate school in Applied Theatre. She said, “Oh…really? That’s not what I would have chosen for you. What made you interested in that?” I briefly told her that theatre had always been important to me, but that I wanted to work with non-professionals; that I am interested in teaching, but not necessarily in a school; and so on. But what I wanted to say was, “What <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wouldyou have expected me to do?”

As I sit here about to fly off to another country, I can’t imagine much else for which I’d be willing to leave the family and place I love so much for a whole year. Applied theatre just makes sense to me! It was strange to hear that someone else views me so differently than I view myself. Have really changed that much since high school? Or maybe she just never knew me very well. Maybe because I have lived through my growth, both the life-shaping moments and the everyday routine, it seems like all of those realizations and coincidences are more connected, more gradual, more of a logical progression from one to the next.

And so I wonder…

What did other people expect me to do when I was in high school? How did people categorize me when they were first getting to know me?

And so I turn to you, those interested enough, caring enough, or perhaps bored enough to read my thought. Think back to when you first knew me, or to when I was in high school. What did you think I would want to do when I grew up? What did you think would matter most to me as a 23 year old? What words would you have used to describe me? Please, be honest. Be brutal. I truthfully want to know.





Thank you for…

Growth

Perspective

My parents

Snow on the mountains early enough that I didn’t have to leave without seeing it.

My parents

My parents

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