When You're a Teacher's Kid

Everyone (or at least I assume everyone) knows that I am a teacher's kid. I feel like I talked about it fairly often in high school because it definitely influenced my feelings on education and educators. Here are a few things that I have accepted as normal as a "teacher's kid".

 1. Summer ends on August 1. No matter what day summer was supposed to go until, August 1 was the real "last day of summer" when I was a child. August 1 was the first day of an eight-to-nine day stretch where my mom isolated herself in her classroom before kindergarten orientation and the first day of school. I would spend at least two or three of those days helping her clean out the cubbies and re-organize her books. In reality, I probably slowed her down more than I helped, but I still enjoyed doing it. 
My mom's classroom last year
2. School never really ends. Sure, when we're on vacation or going shopping my mom isn't worrying about school. However, many people assume that teachers get three months of uninterrupted rest before jumping into another school year. This is far from true (at least for my mom). Teachers attend workshops, begin prep for the next school year, and start outlining lesson plans pretty early on in the summer. Teachers put a lot more time into their work during their summer than many people think.
Our kitchen table right now
3. Your parent is home for the summer. Although they may still be doing things for school, your parent is always home in the summer. I never had a nanny or babysitter in the summer which is weird to some people. I am so thankful that my mom is home in the summers because we're able to bond and enjoy our time together before the craziness of the school year takes over.
Us on a walk at 7 am before the St. Louis humidity hit full force
4. They are also home for winter break. My winter breaks have always been pretty awesome because my family is able to spend a lot of time together. This past year, because I wasn't swimming, I really did have my entire winter break to do whatever we wanted. My family and I took many trips to Historic St. Charles, did a Christmas puzzle, and baked a lot of goodies. One of the other great things about being a teacher's kid is that you can do spontaneous things because you know they don't have to go to work. My mom and I decided the day before that we wanted to go see "Wicked" at the Fabulous Fox. We may have been in the last row of the Fox and not been able to see that well but it was still something fun that I will remember forever.
In front of the Fabulous Fox
5. You respect education much more. I know first hand how much hard work and effort teachers put into their jobs. I know not all teachers do, but a majority of teachers are passionate about what they do and care about their students. So many kids in high school were so rude and gave their teachers no respect. If you don't want to better yourself, that's fine, but don't disrespect your teachers or disrupt other students who do want to learn. Education is a gift that many people in other countries do not have. I am as bad as anyone else about complaining about school but we all just need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Knowledge is a powerful tool that we need to value more.
My first day of freshman year, and Hunter's first day of sixth grade
Being a teacher's kid has definitely changed my life in many different ways. I am so happy that my mom has a passion for teaching and helping young children in their formative years. While being a teacher is definitely not for me, I know how valuable it is to have teachers do what they love and love what they do.

 Until next time,
Taylor xx
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Tips for Choosing a College

As many of you probably know, to say I am excited for college is an understatement. I've been binge-watching college freshmen tips/tricks/advice, and have a lot of exciting YouTube videos and blog posts lined up for my freshmen year of college. As I was thinking about what kind of blog post to share this week, I thought back to early on in senior year when I was deciding on what college to go to. It's a huge decision (obviously) and so much information is thrown at students that it can become very overwhelming very quickly. 

I'm breaking down some of the key components I factored in to my college decision. A lot of these are pretty simple things you have heard a lot, but I'm going to try to explain why each one is so important.

1. What kind of school are you looking for? Do you want a big school or a small school? Do you want to go far away or live at home and commute? You probably already have an idea of this but having an idea of the size and location of the college you want to attend will help you eliminate some and discover others. 
Ignore how terrible I look, but this was when I got my acceptance package to Drury
I knew I didn't want to go to a big school so I automatically ruled out Mizzou. I didn't want to sit in a huge lecture hall, I wanted to be in a small classroom setting and be able to know my professor. Drury has approximately 1,600 undergraduate students. My biggest class this semester is my intro to criminology class of 30 students. 

2. Majors/Interests. When you are looking at colleges make sure they have what you intend to major in as well as some other career areas you are interested in. A lot of college students switch their major, so I wouldn't pick a college solely because they have the major you think you want to pursue. However, don't bother looking at a school whose majors all center around engineering if you are interested in communications or language. 
I wanted to major in public relations, and Drury specifically had a program called "Advertising and Public Relations" (the name of the degree has since been changed to Strategic Communication). Although I am pretty set in my major, I know there is a possibility I could change. I am also interested in criminology, which Drury has, and other areas of the communication and business fields that I'm interested if my major were to change.

3. Getting involved. A big factor in choosing a college for me was the campus life. I want to get connected on campus and be involved in student life. From the visits I went on and the people I talked to, everyone at Drury is passionate about their school and getting involved. Finding a place that encourages students to get involved with allow you to find what you are passionate about. 
Drury's freshmen orientation is a requirement. I have read blog posts from students at different colleges that said their orientation wasn't required so they ended up sitting alone in their dorm room because they felt like they would be awkward tagging along with other people who already seemed to be friends. A campus that encourages you to get involved will help you establish connections early on and introduce you to meet more people from the start of your college experience.

4. Location. I kind of touched on this in my first point, but deciding on a location is essential to choosing a college. You have to first figure out how much you can handle. Are you okay with going all the way out to California, or do you want to come home for breaks or a weekend? If so, California is probably not the place to choose. Even if you stay in state, some Missouri colleges can be 30 minutes away, while others can be 4 hours. Figure out how far you want to go and look at colleges in between that range.
My terrible attempt at drawing a map from O'Fallon to Springfield
Drury is 3 hours away from my home which is perfect for me. I wanted a college that wasn't too close but also wasn't too far. Three hours is definitely doable if I want to come home for a weekend but it is far enough where I won't be coming home every weekend.

5. Visit the college! I cannot stress this enough. If you don't do anything else while picking a college, just go visit. You have no idea if you'll like the college unless you get a vibe the campus and the town. 
What I'm about to say is really cheesy but so true, once you are on campus you will know. When I walked onto Drury's campus for my first visit everything just felt right. I knew that was where I wanted to go, it felt like the right place, and it was a place I confidently knew I could call home for the next four years. 

If you all want any more pieces of advice or tips, just let me know, I'll be happy to share! 

Until next time,
Taylor xx
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