The Six-Year-old in my head…

A year ago, I was an IT Director for a mid-sized corporation. My company was actually acquired by a larger one, and I was told that my position was no longer necessary. (Side note here, I very much like the new company and was in full agreement with them. They had a complete IT Department and didn’t need an extra IT Director running around their latest acquisition.)

They timed the termination well; I was having a total knee replacement and would be out for 6 weeks. It just made sense to let me go before the surgery.

While recovering, I kept applying for jobs. Would find one, but it wasn’t really a match. Tried for another but didn’t have much luck.

It really didn’t help that the 6-year-old little girl in my head kept stomping her feet and pouting:

“I don’t wanna do IT!”

It felt rather ridiculous for a woman in her late 50s to be talking to a 6-year-old internal child, but what are you going to do?

“Fine,” I responded. “What do you want to do?”

“I wanna TEACH!”

:: rolling eyes:: “Really. 25 years of experience in IT, a degree, and certifications, but you want to go back into teaching”.

“YUP!”

Oddly enough, when the 6-year-old in your head doesn’t want to do Information Technology, your cover letters are less than impressive, and your overall attitude is challenging. I applied for over 100 jobs, but my heart just wasn’t in it.

So, instead of fighting the 6-year-old, I looked into teaching again.

I had taught Math at Job Corps, Information Security at ITT Tech, and Music at Lake Michigan College, so I had a decent background in classroom teaching. Between the local school system and community college, I figured I could find something reasonable.

However, the 6-year-old had a different idea.

“PIANO!!! I wanna teach Piano!”

::head in hands:: “Seriously?”

Turns out, the 6-year-old was on the right track. I joke that the Bassoon is the love of my life, but the Piano is my best friend. Finding a position at a local music school teaching piano has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

My students range in age from 5 to 87, and they are all remarkable human beings (and completely adorable!). Introducing them to my best friend and walking them through basic technique has truly been a joy. Watching the light spread across their face when they ‘get’ how to read music or the technical exercise finally makes sense, is the best thing in the world.

The six-year-old may be a bit loud and annoying, but I think she may have some good ideas.