For many, making a career choice is as distressing as chronic pain…Just when you think you have nailed it, it comes back to you – making you one unhappy person!  

I feel so blessed to have found a career that I am so passionate about. I did not go searching for a career in teaching. In fact, it came searching for me. I was a young 17 year old in the small town of Mombasa, Kenya awaiting admission into the business program at what was Calgary’s Mount Royal College, now Univeristy.

During that time, the principal of a very large, reputed preschool invited me to come and work as a teacher’s assistant. “But I have absolutely no experience or idea how to teach,” I responded. “Don’t worry,” said the principal, “we will help you along.” A few months later, I received an acceptance letter from Mount Royal College.

I was excited to take off from Africa and study in North America when my family went through unexpected financial difficulty. This changed my path and instead, I ventured to India to pursue further education in law. I started college in India, made some good friends and began adjusting to life there. But every day upon returning from college, I would revert to reading books about preschool aged children.

Even the relatives that I lived with questioned and consistently lectured about my attention towards ‘irrelevant topics.’ At the same time, I was falling ill on a regular basis. The doctor advised my visiting parents to take me back home. Upon hearing this, I knew that my parents would be concerned about what career options lay in store for me due to the fact that educational opportunities were limited in Kenya. Without hesitation, I reassured them with confidence, “I know my calling, I am going to become a teacher.”