Rachel K. Restart

When I came to Seattle at the tail end of July, I had no idea what I really wanted out of my life. I knew that I'd like to explore the education career track, though in the past six months the only progress I've really made on that path is that I have expanded my "what NOT to do to become an educator" list.

After two years of teaching elementary and middle school students in Japan,  a summer of instructing at a computer camp and now tutoring kids in math and reading twice a week, I know that a teacher is what I want to become. So, after years of trying to figure out exactly what I really wanted to do with my life, I've reached the answer! This is exciting, there's no doubt about it. Though, now that I know what I want to do with my life, I'm having trouble finding a way to get there.

I'm jumping into education without any formal training. It's been difficult watching some of my friends from Japan find themselves in assistant teaching positions already, most notably because I didn't realize any of them actually wanted to become educators themselves. It seems that becoming a substitute in evergreen state is as challenging as becoming any kind of certified educator; it's going to require a lot of work and a lot of training. So I find myself back at square one -- "What do I do now?"

Applying to graduate programs was the next logical step! I put in an application to the University of Washington's Teaching & Curriculum program, which is one of the types of Masters in Education -- something I feel like I would like to achieve. The problem is that applying to grad school, along the process of becoming a certified teacher, is something I know nothing about. My background at a hippy burnout film program that was anti Hollywood and anti internships has prepared me for almost no part of the real world that I now seek to join. Though I rushed to put together my application, letters of recommendation and two written personal essays, I failed to complete the GRE in time to submit my scores to the school. I thought I was able to do it in March or April, but it turns out my GRE scores should have been submitted back in January with the rest of my application, again something I knew nothing about until I had made these mistakes.

With all the mistakes I am making, however sophomoric they may seem, I'm learning about the process of getting into graduate programs (or, in this case, NOT getting into graduate programs).

I have come to a new decision that may take this blog and my life in an interesting and possibly disastrous new direction! I have quit my primary job at Starbucks after six months of exhaustion, dissatisfaction, and low income. It's simply not worth the time and effort, and I need to start focusing on what I need to do to find the path I know I want to take in life.

I'm taking the next three months off from having a normal person job and I'm going to learn about grad school programs within Seattle, I'm going to try and pinpoint exactly what field of study I want to explore and I am going to study for and ace the GRE. This is a goal statement of sorts.

I also really want to start exercising more and become strong enough to keep up with my sports-enthusiast boyfriend, Kevin, who I admire and adore.

In a nutshell, I'm taking the next three months off in order to better my mind and body and to focus my life more.

I'll try to update on my progress or lackthereof in the coming weeks and months. Wish me luck!