Practice Blog Post

Okay, that might be a smidge melodramatic. Let’s just say some 19 years ago (a short time ago, really) in a city that really is not all that far away (Birmingham, ALABAMA—not England, unfortunately), I was born into this crazy, old world. When I was six years old, I was radically dethroned from my royal existence as an only child and was joined by an accomplice/enemy (depending on the day)—my younger sister, Sarah. We then relocated from Birmingham to the unearthly humid city of Mobile where my brother Taylor joined us. Ten years later (surprise, surprise) my baby brother Ethan was born. All of us Crawford kids have been privileged enough to receive outstanding educations from outstanding schools. We are all very interested in different things.
So why teach?
If I had a dime for every time I’ve been asked that, I’d be richer than all the educators in Finland (where becoming a teacher is equivalent to becoming a doctor in our culture). It’s very simple, really. There’s a perfectly harmless cliché going around that says something to the effect of “be the change you wish to see in the world”. I want change in America’s education system, so to accomplish this, I must become an educator. The more basic question to ask is why should I want change?
It took me nearly eighteen years to realize that education is the single most influential determinant of a person’s existence. Think about it. From doing calculus homework to watching the latest episode of *shudder* Jersey Shore and every experience in between—the way we are educated and in what we are educated provides the essence of our existence. So no matter how well you think America is doing education-wise (we are number 17 on the list of developed countries in the world, by the way) we should always be striving for more (because, let’s face it, that’s what we do best).
My enthusiasm for learning as much as I possibly can has spurred my greatest past time—reading. While the internet and the television set are magnificent attributes for some, I personally could do without. The written word has always fascinated me. I think most kids of my generation will agree that Harry Potter was a life changer, and Twilight is the root of all evil.
If I could sum up my greatest passion in a photograph, it would probably be this one:

Well, I guess that pretty much wraps me up. Thank you so much for taking time to read my ramblings!
May the force be with you.