#3: I've always wanted to be a teacher.

When I was younger, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. At one point, someone told me I was "too smart" to be a teacher, which now makes no sense. Teachers are the smartest people I know. Whoever told me that was right, I am smart. But I'm not "too smart" to be a teacher; I don't think there is such a thing.

If I were to teach, I would want to teach 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade. Why? Children at that age are like little sponges, and they still actually like to go to school and learn. You make the biggest impact. Two of my favorite teachers were from those grades, and I still remember projects and things that we did in those grades.

I have recently started looking into teaching as a career path. Georgia Tech obviously doesn't offer an education degree, but there are definitely other options for me to obtain certification. What I really want to do is move to Spain and teach, but after some extensive research, it seems like such a daunting adventure. Right now I am leaning toward participating in a month-long training session coupled with teaching English at intensive summer camps. It seems like there is no better time than the present to take advantage of this opportunity. Plus, obtaining the TEFL certification would give me a lot of experience and perhaps I could even come back and be an ESOL teacher. But, going to Spain means being super prepared and basically bringing everything I could ever need with me. Plus, the TESL certification is really freaking expensive (like $2500 expensive...). This whole issue is stemming from the fact that I don't have a job, so I guess I have to be really sure before I put that kind of money into it.

On top of having the experience of teaching abroad, living in Spain would help my Spanish skills tremendously, which is something I have been trying to do. I can't really figure out how to enhance my Spanish-speaking ability while living here, but living in Spain would be awesome! Plus, I had the best time last summer and am really interested in spending the same amount of time in a different region.

Anyway, long story short, I've kind of gone back to the thought of being a teacher. After mentioning to a few close friends that I was interested in teaching abroad, they both said that they have thought all along that I should be a teacher. Now if only I could decide which path I want to take... to stay in the US or go...