If I wasn’t a teacher I would have most likely become a cop and eventually a detective. I wouldn’t really want to be a cop first, but obviously that is the first step in becoming a detective. I am completely obsessed with watching Law and Order television shows, specifically Special Victims Unit (SVU). I have watched every episode at least one time and have moved on to other shows with similar plots. I find it so incredibly interesting and I love thinking in the way that they do to catch the criminal and solve the case. I believe that it takes a very intelligent and passionate person to do a job like that and I know I would be able to do a great job at it. I really like the Special Victims Unit in particular because it revolves around sex crimes and cases with children. Since I went to school for Health Education, this job would in a way be similar to my passion for these specific health topic that I address while teaching. Sexual education and child abuse/neglect are part of the health curriculum and as a detective I would still be working with these health topics. Rather than educating about the topics, I would be putting away the people that commit crimes related to these topics. This may just be a crazy dream that I have always had but I really think it is quite an amazing job. This job would have many downfalls including dealing with many difficult situations and being so time consumed that it would be difficult to enjoy life and have a family. Therefore, teaching is a much better option for me in many ways. This leads me to the other possible option for what I would be doing with my life if I were not a teacher. I would be working in some other way to help victims; mostly children. I could either be a lawyer since I can make a very good argument, or I could do something related to social work and being a case worker for foster children. Either way, my passion always comes back to exactly why I went in to teaching in the first place…for the children.
Laura, I didn’t realize you went to school for health ed.–how neat! Anyway, what a nice post. Your love for children really comes through in it. Criminal investigation is such an awesome interest! Many people in my family work in the court system so I agree, it really is a fascinating field. Your other career options are interesting as well. I also considered social work for a while. I did an internship in several county child & family mental health clinics (in-patient & out-patient) in which I worked under a group of social workers. I loved it! It was sad, though. The circumstances and experiences that some children go through are saddening and for me it was hard not to become emotionally involved. I couldn’t figure out how to separate myself which made me realize that it would not be the best career for me.