If It Weren’t For…

My life has been shaped by seemingly small things. I have often pondered all the “If it weren’t for…” moments in my life.

For example, I love being a teacher. It’s a great job and it feels like I was meant to be one. The strange thing is that I never would’ve become a teacher if it weren’t for…

Boy Scouts

I was involved in Scouts for most of my life and moved up through the ranks as a youth member. One year, I went to sign up for Rovers but no one else did. My friends from the previous year had all moved away for university. I had no such plans.

I stood around at registration night trying to figure out what to do. I could go to another group in a different part of the city to continue. I seriously thought about doing that. As I was waiting around hoping someone else might sign up so that I wouldn’t have to move groups, it turned out that one of the leaders wouldn’t be returning. The group committee chairman was very nervous because they were signing up kids to a program that had no leader.

I didn’t have to think very long. I had never really thought about being a leader before that moment. I was young, but old enough to lead a group. I had been in the organization my whole life and had known the chairman for the past ten years. So I told him I would like to lead the group. He supported me.

I lead the group for about two years before my uncle got married.

My new aunt

One day, I was talking to my new aunt, who just happened to be a teacher. We were trading stories about her kids and I was telling her about my scout group. It was a nice conversation. We had so much in common. And then came the one small comment.

My aunt said, “You know what? You’d make a really good teacher.”

I had never thought about being a teacher before that comment. But after she said it, it echoed in my brain. A light went off and I knew what I wanted to do. It felt right. I now had a career path.

My Epiphany

So that’s how two seemingly small things helped to shape my life and give me my career. This isn’t the only “If it weren’t for…” moment in my life either. It seems to me like things happen for a reason. It’s one of the reasons why I believe that in this life there are no small things.


5 responses to “If It Weren’t For…”

  1. Hi Chase,

    Isn’t that amazing how a fork in the road takes us in a new direction? Sometimes I look back on those “forks” and wonder where I would be had I taken a different path. I’m glad I didn’t though, as I’m content where I am now.

    Great, and well written story. Thanks for sharing a little more about “Chase”.

  2. Hi Lizzy, that’s strange because my first male teacher was in the fourth grade as well. He was probably an influence for me too without me even really paying much attention to it.

    Hey Barbara, I have tonnes of it weren’t for… moments in my life. I don’t want write about them all though but I am sure it would make a good story. In fact, it already has, it’s shaped the story of me.

  3. Hey Silverfish, I think I will always be indebted to her for that one small comment. It really makes you think where I’d be now if it weren’t for that conversation. And you are right, I love my job. It feels like it is exactly where I am supposed to be.