Recently I was asked by a student, "Mr. Bizarri, do you have any regrets becoming a teacher?" I thought that was an awesome question, and I did pause to think for a bit.
I did answer the student truthfully and told him that from time-to-time I wonder how my life would be different had I chosen a different path. On the other hand, I don't regret my eventual decision to become an English teacher. My career goals didn't start that way though....
While in high school, I was really interested in Journalism. I was on the school newspaper, part of the school yearbook staff, and I also worked for a weekly newspaper nearby - The Milan Mirror. I enjoyed the thrill of being "Johnny On The Spot" and getting pictures and telling a story. My boss Mr. Maynard was AWESOME. He helped me and encouraged me and on deadline nights he would take me out for a milkshake to celebrate. Eventually, I even had my own weekly column called Seen by Seventeen. And that's how it started out in college too...I attended Augustana, and got a college work study job working for David Wrath in the Sports Information Office. I helped with press releases and catalogs and programs and all the other materials that are produced. In addition, I got a job working for the Quad City Times as a sports correspondent. I was living the dream going to high school contests and being sent to complete other feature stories. I also worked in the sports department on evenings taking in scores and information that would eventually be in the paper the next day.
My involvement in basketball at Augie got me interested in Athletic Training. I had always loved sports and was intrigued and impressed by the role of athletic trainers. Like many college students I my career goals seemed to switch before my eyes from sportswriter to athletic training. That switch was short lived. My Human Anatomy course with Dr. Tallitsch kicked my butt, and scurried out of the health sciences department with my "D" grade and never returned.
At the same time I was in college, I somehow got involved in coaching a youth basketball team. I had a team of 5th-6th grade students from Rockridge, and a couple times a week I would practice with them and then we would play in the district league on the weekends. That was the bug that led me down the path to a career in teaching. I became obsessed with coaching. I really enjoyed teaching skills and helping the young players improve and be successful. At the time in the late 80's the only way to coach high school basketball was to be a teacher. Coaches had to be certified teachers.
So while it was not exactly the correct way to make a decision, I embraced a role as a teacher because I wanted to coach. My early interest in journalism and writing and communicating helped me to eventually select secondary English education as my major, and my career took flight. After a little bump past Augie (Thank you Dr. Senne and Coach Jim Leix for those life lessons.), I finished up by Bachelor of Arts at Marycrest College.
Because I graduated in December, after graduation I completed one day of substitute teaching at Sherrard high school as a P.E.teacher. Soon I was hired as a one-on-one special education aide at Andalusia Elementary. Later that May I interviewed and was hired at Westmer Secondary School to teach junior high language arts and coach basketball and football. Since then with only a brief hiatus away from education in the private sector on one occasion, I have been in education.
So now I'm back in RoomNE10 at Rockridge. It's still okay to wonder what life would have been like as a sportswriter or athletic trainer, but I really enjoy my job as an English teacher.
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