I was sitting in a Business Calculus class my Freshman year at Northern Illinois University studying to be an accountant because I thought making money was the most important thing in life. I soon realized that I would be bored out of mind and although I may make more money initially I would have a career that lacks any significant meaning. Around the same time I was coaching a youth basketball team in my home team. We were far and away the worst team in the league, but seeing the progress each player made and the fun they had doing it led me to believe I should consider teaching as a profession.
Around the same time, my mother, who single highhandedly raised my 3 brothers and I while working 6 days a week, was diagnosed with cancer. That altered my perspective on life and made me realize how precious life really is and what one does with their life should bring them a satisfaction from making the lives of others better. My older brother, Matt, who serves as a phenomenal role model and father figure to my three brothers and I had already begun his teaching career at the time and I could see just how much more meaning his life had from getting to work with children every day. I now wake up every single day hoping to make 3 people proud- my mom to be the father figure to young people often lacking one and to work tirelessly each day without complaint, my older brother in a hope to be half the mentor he is to young people, and my wife Delaney who is one of the best educators I have ever been around. Being average is not acceptable to any of those 3, and I will not let being average or failing to make an impact in the lives of as many young people's lives as possible be an option in my life.I am here because I was born to be somebody that young people can look up to and be a positive influence in a time when more and more of our students lack just that.