A new career path?

  

Spending so much time on Friday with my nephew was interesting. Fun, of course. We're both rabid Cub fans, so a day at Wrigley Field is like a pilgrimage. He cracks me up, too. For example, leaving the park we spotted a couple wearing anti-choice shirts that read: STOP REGULATED CHILD MURDER. He said, "They're right. Let's make child murder open to everyone."

I learned something unexpected about him after the game. He intended to go into politics/public service/government after his graduation in 2022. Campaign operative, legislative aide, a paid administrative position in the national or local Democratic party ...

Now he's not so sure.

Politics and policy remain his passion, but he's not so sure about his career path. He worries about the transient nature of it. He would have to go where the candidates are, and he's not sure he likes the idea of (say) living two years in Iowa and then uprooting and moving to Los Angeles. Working for not-for-profits is steadier, but there is little money in that. Nor should there be, but at the start of his career while setting up his life on his own, salary is a consideration.

So now he's thinking about teaching. Since high school, he's loved exchanging ideas with his favorite teachers. He missed that one-on-one with his professors during remote learning. He also really doesn't want school to end and he admits that he could prolong his own days as a student a bit if he went on to take the necessary classes required for a teaching degree.

I have read that only 25% of K-12 teachers are men. I think my nephew -- with his gentle manner (really, it's almost as if his temper has been surgically removed) and sensitivity -- would be a good male role model for kids.

I hope if he chooses teaching, it's because he wants to do it and not because he's worried about leaving us (which I hear in his every sentence) or because he's afraid of the unknown.

It amuses me that he's so different from his sister. My niece was offered a grant from a prestigious culinary school in Chicago but she turned it down. She couldn't wait to get away us and go away to school and has made it clear to everyone that she lives in Michigan now, thankyouverymuch. 

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