In 2012 when I moved to Vancouver, my plan was to attend college the following fall. I had wanted to become a youth councilor, but the more I thought, the more I realized that wasn’t the right path for me. Yes I wanted to work with children, but I wanted something more constructive. I finally allowed myself to be open to the idea of being a teacher, something which I had dismissed outright as a high school student. Here was a career that would let me help children to grow, rather than simply try to fix them. The last two years of educational purgatory were key in coming to this realization. They gave me time to better understand what I needed out of life and how I could make that a reality.

So where does this realization leave me? Last week I attended a course planning session at Langara College. Yesterday, I completed my application and picked two courses to pursue once fall course selection becomes available in the next few weeks. Because I don’t want to start with core courses before I am once more used to attending school, I chose an entry level french class (a huge bonus for teachers in Canada) and a world religions class (something that interests me greatly.)
Making change happen in my life has never been a strong suit of mine. I tend to get very comfortable with how things are and rarely find the motivation to act, to make a significant change like this. I am looking to my future now. While that is a scary thing for me to do, I can’t help but think that it is the only real choice I have available.