My Perfect Future

      Happy Friday! Finally! This week feels like it's lasted forever. It's felt so long mostly because everyone seems to be focused on the ACT, SAT, AP tests, and their OHP (oral history project). There's so much pressure to do well on all of these tests because it seemingly "defines my future." I guarantee you that everything I'm "learning" in school is a waste of my time, if you can even call it learning. I basically just memorize things until the test, and then I forget all of the information! Doesn't seem like a very good system, huh? I wish I could just fast forward to college...I wish I knew everything in my future.
       I've definitely planned out my "perfect" future, even though it changes pretty frequently. For starters, I will hopefully attend either Washburn University or the University of Kansas (I haven't visited KU yet, but I hope I love it!). I will get a Bachelor's degree in elementary education, then a Master's degree in special education, and maybe even a PhD in special education. I will either stay in the KC area or go far away (hopefully the South, I'm still obsessed with it!) to work in a school as a special ed. teacher. I seriously can't wait until I get to have my own classroom and students that I can help adjust and even function in the real world.
     Next, you're probably thinking that I want to get married and have a few kids. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm pretty sure that marriage and kids just aren't for me. The idea of being with one person for the rest of my life seems really hard, and divorce wouldn't be an option for me. I also know from personal experience that marriage can make people very unhappy. I just don't see myself twenty years from now cooking dinner, washing dishes, doing laundry, or driving a kid to soccer practice. Maybe it's because I'm selfish, but I want to live my own life and just think about what I want to do. Believe it or not, I prefer doing things by myself because people tend to complicate things. When I'm alone, I get to do things my way. I want to go on adventures. I want to travel the world. I want to meet interesting people. I want to experience things that most people only dream of. And that stuff is hard to do with a husband and children.
      So I'll either work as a special ed. teacher for the rest of my life or move up to an administrator position. I want to live in a big white house with navy shutters and a red door and a deck that wraps around the whole house (yes, this sounds exactly like the Notebook, but it truly is what I've always wanted). I want to live in the South so it can be hot most of the year, and I can sip iced tea, read a book, and watch the sunset. Hopefully I'll get to have this perfect future of mine!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke