Sucker Punched

I recently got hooked on the Gilmore Girls on Netflix. I enjoy watching young Rory finish high school, go through the university application process, and start at the university. She has always wanted to be a journalist and in a recent episode, she is sucker punched and told that she doesn’t have it in her to be a journalist. She really lets it cloud her judgement and makes some unwise decisions. Eventually she calms down and makes decisions that are right for her based on her desire to reach a goal and knowing her strengths.

The same thing happened to me when I was a senior in college. My dream for all my life was to be a teacher. Against all odds, I applied and was accepted to my dream college. Not even knowing how I would pay for it, I did everything possible to pay the bills causing me to have several jobs at the same time. I studied hard and worked hard to do the best that I could and even achieved good grades. Student teaching was successful and all of my evaluations were glowing. That spring, one of my professors sat me down to tell me that he didn’t think I had it in me to be a good teacher and I needed to look for a different career. I was crushed! Thankfully I sought out another professor who put gave me her opinion which was quite different. This helped me put the whole situation in perspective. Even though I felt sucker punched, I was determined to prove the first professor wrong.

Over the years, I worked hard to proof that man wrong! Every success I achieved had me remembering how I was sucker punched but I didn’t let it hold me back. I was going to be persistent and determined to achieve my goal. No one was going to hold me back except myself. I was not going to let one person’s opinion keep me from reaching my dream. Over the years I have achieved all that I hoped and more. Maybe by trying to prove one man’s opinion helped me do this or maybe it didn’t. I don’t know that it matters other than that I succeeded.

I want to encourage new and struggling teachers to hang in there. Don’t give up! Don’t let a few bad days or a few bad opinions hold you back. Everyone has bad days but don’t let those bad times shape your career. Let them determine what kind of teacher you can be. Use these feelings to push you forward and not backwards. Do whatever it takes to be the teacher you had hoped to be. Don’t have any regrets for giving up or giving in.

What adversity have you faced in your career? How did you overcome it? Please share.

Image: 'IMG_1272 Punching is fun' 
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