I always said to my mother and anyone who would listen. "I am not going to be a teacher." I saw everyday, day in and day out, how had my mother worked as a Pre-K-12 Art Teacher. After a brief stint as a Landscape Architecture major. I had to just admit to myself that teaching was my calling. I couldn't ignore it anymore. At Central Missouri State University or University of Central Missouri (after a name change my senior year) I began my training to become an Art Teacher. Here I discovered, I really don't like figure drawing, I can operate a band saw like no other, and that my love of fabric had a home in my fibers class. I really miss walking the halls of the Art Department and seeing all the Art Students projects in the halls. (Doing that gave me so many ideas for lesson plans.) After graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Art Education I moved on to begin my Master's program at the University of Missouri. I had hoped that it would only take a year and two summers (like I was told) but I was not prepared to take the 12-15 graduate hours per semester to do that. So instead, I went ahead and began the job search. Looking at first for anything in Missouri above I-70, I applied for every job I could. I couldn't believe it when the principle at Kirksville Primary in Kirksville called my up and offered me the job. Who gets their dream job the first time out! Teaching and working on my Master's with practically a class each summer, fall, and spring. (I did take the fall and spring of my first year of teaching off. I wanted to focus on teaching before I juggled both. And I am really glad I did.) After I wrapped up my third year of teaching in 2011 I had completed my graduate program and had earn a Master of Education in Art Education. (A friend of my said that she worked so hard that she wanted to add MEd after her name like the Phds often do. I really like this idea. It was a lot of frustration and work, but in the end it was worth it. Now, as most teachers do I spend most of my hours thinks about lesson planning, meetings, and students. But I do find the time to squeeze in my passion for fibers. After I got my Master's, I told my parents that they needed to convince my brother to get his Phd, because I was done with school. The only exception for this might be an MFA in Fibers, but we'll just have to see what the future holds.
