When I Grow Up…

Age 8

“When I grow up I want to be a teacher.”

My dad was a teacher. My mom is a teacher. Members of my extended family? All teachers. I always loved the idea of being a teacher. All day I could play and hang out with my friends, which is what I thought teachers did, but more than that I could keep learning my whole life. I loved school. I grew up in the south where just the threat of snow meant a snow day. When we were out of school for snow, or…the chance of snow, I was sad. I couldn’t wait until we were back in school so that I could keep learning, I loved feeling smart. But as children (and even adults) are, I was fickle with my future plans.

Age 13

“When I grow up I want to work with writers.”

I loved to read. Did I have a lot of friends? Not really. I was kind of bullied…a lot…all through my school days. So since I didn’t have a lot of friends to spend time with, I read. In 2009, The Proposal was released. You know, that movie with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds? Sandra Bullock does something in publishing, I think she’s an editor? Maybe? Anyway, I thought, “No way! A job where all I have to do is read books all day for work?” Clearly that isn’t what editors do. They do a LOT more than just read all day. But, to a little teenager who didn’t know any better, that was the dream. Then that teenager found another dream.

Age 18

“When I grow up I want to study history.”

I graduated from Brigham Young University and when I started as a freshman, I wanted to minor in history. My dad taught history and I was always good at history through middle and high school, so why wouldn’t I embrace it and study history in college? Maybe because college history classes are SO different and as soon as I took my first history class and almost failed it, I realized I was very wrong. History has always been fascinating to me, but I realized I was fascinated with certain topics and eras. So what now?

Age 23

When I grew up, I became a teacher, I work with writers, and I study history. So, how did I manage to do everything I wanted to do? I became a dramaturg.