A few weeks ago my husband’s college roommate came to visit for the weekend from Silicon Valley. Over dinner, we began discussing our current stages in life, our passions, careers, and issues that arise from our careers. In following is a brief recap of our narratives:
Myself: Personally, happily married to my husband who challenges me to take risks, value and prioritize my personal interests, and always listen to my heart. Family and traveling the world are priorities, along with our Golden Doodle Henry. I enjoy cooking dinners and meals with my husband recapping our days with one another. Professionally, I’m currently an Implementation Specialist who is passionate about coaching and ensuring that teachers and students receive the supports that they need in order to be successful and feel valued. This also leading to my biggest question pertaining to education at this time…in a time when teacher retention is lacking, stress is on the rise, and time and resources are limited how do we assist teachers in reigniting their passion for teaching?
Friend: Personally, playing the dating game as a young professional in Silicon Valley. Spends his time traveling the world for weeks at a time and enjoys brainstorming entrepreneurial opportunities. His personal hobbies consist of sailing, surfing, flying and engaging in anything that is adventurous. Professionally, he recently left Google and is now exploring new opportunities at a start-up. This leading to the biggest question pertaining to his career at this time…what’s the next big invention and how do I stop working so much so that I can actually enjoy my unlimited vacation…yes, you read that correctly, his unlimited vacation!
As we continued talking he informed me that companies without unlimited vacation policies, laundry services, gym memberships and three provided meals a day are simply not competitive. Coming from me, where this type of work environment is pretty much non-existent, this “problem” sounded like heaven. From his perspective yes, is was great. Although, each of these elements led to the bigger challenge…it is very easy for him to find himself never leaving work. Additionally, he rarely takes advantage of his unlimited vacation and yes, he’s a thirty something year old who struggles navigating the grocery store. ..
While I’m aware the two of us have very different careers, I can’t help but think will the world of education ever become the place where we find teachers saying, “I just can’t stop working because I enjoy it so much?”
Educators…what ignites your passion and keeps you wanting to stay at work?