Head of the Class

Herm Alswanger, the head of the Stamford High School guidance department, urged me to get a broad liberal arts education. “Hone your critical thinking and writing skills. They are talents that will always be in demand.” In the long run, the advice served me well, but boy was I confused as an undergraduate. During that time, I vacillated between two post college career paths. I pursued neither.

The first was pre-law. I got as far as taking the LSAT and applying to law school. I was admitted to a few competitive programs, but my future father-in-law convinced me to reconsider. The mother of one of my campers asked what I planned to do after college and when I told her that I had abandoned plans to study law, she convinced me to come work for her. So began my big life in advertising.

For a few semesters I was part of the Wash U teacher certification cohort. I am one semester of student teaching away from being a certified Social Studies teacher (at least based on the 1998 standards in the state of Missouri). I hoped to teach in a high school like Stamford High. I figured I could continue to work at my overnight camp in a senior staff position and have a decent life. In retrospect, I probably had a bit of a Peter Pan complex and was resisting walking away from an idyllic childhood.

When my Honda Accord needed a new transmission, my older brother ungraciously quipped, “you are lucky it happened this year and Mom and Dad are paying. You’d have to take the bus as a first-year teacher.” Although for many years I blamed his comment for stopping me on my path, it was a ski trip that conflicted with student teaching that ultimately caused me to withdraw. I used to say I sold my soul for a week in Tahoe. The pangs of regret have lessened over the years and I am very lucky that my chosen career path has given me a great degree of balance in my life.

These past two weeks I have found myself training two new team members. Not only are they new to our agency, but they are relatively new to the workforce. They are both such great students and have rekindled my love of teaching. They are ready learners. Their active listening is enviable. They ask questions at the right time and help one another grasp concepts. A training I normally give in an hour took two and a half, but we all left feeling energized.

The training is based on a broad food industry seminar course I took in 2003 when I joined the agency. Although I have updated it with new research over the years, I admit my delivery can sometimes be a little rote. But for some reason this week it felt significantly more dynamic. Even over Zoom! It had me making new connections to our industry, particularly in a post COVID environment.

I have spent over two decades in a career that I fell into. I have had periods of rapid progression and times when I have felt stuck. It is in those moments of despair that I have allowed myself to fantasize about the could haves and should haves. Sure, in another life I am a lawyer in Hartford or running the Social Studies department at Stamford High. But just this week I was reminded that I am right where I am supposed to be. And I am blessed to still have something to offer the next generation.