Dec 09
1
Patience, Planning and Pride
I have known Vera since her High School years in South Carolina. We are delighted to have her to do our guest blog today. As a mother and a teacher in the State of Texas, she shares her example of empowering herself to live her dreams.
What a game BYU played last Saturday . . . object lesson for my young sons included the words “patience”, “planning”, and “pride”. At this time in my life, I am most grateful to have learned that patience is, indeed, a virtue.
Ask any BYU grad what “84″ means and if their blood does run blue, she will tell you that was the year BYU won the National Championship. But if you ask me what “84″ means . . . my answer is something very different. 1984 was the year I graduated from BYU with a double major . . . Journalism and Secondary Education . . . and it was also the year I got married. We moved back to my “home” in South Carolina and I began my adult life supporting my new husband in his pursuit of a Masters in International Business . . . I did not become a journalist, nor did I become a teacher. I began working where the best money could be found and put off starting a family. Three years later, after he acquired his Masters degree, I was a newly divorced, single mother with a precious baby girl. It was time to start MY life over again.
It has been many years since BYU won the National Championship . . . it has been many years since I gave up my dream of being a teacher. I spent the better part of the past 20 years being a mother. My children are my Masters degree in LIFE. I am so very proud of them. When my youngest son began kindergarten 4 years ago, I decided to get paid for my volunteeing at his school and become a sub. I had a blast . . . I subbed at all the local schools in any subject, at any grade level, and found that I was still a teacher at heart.
With patience and planning, I’m getting back to where I started in “84″. On October 31, 2009, I “sat” for my teacher certification exams for the state of Texas. I felt like I was in high school again. I had crammed. I had prayed. I had said, “I’ll just see what’s on the test” and take it again in February. Last Monday, the e-mail with my test scores popped up.
I am now certified as a CLASSROOM TEACHER in the state of Texas — crazy to feel like I just graduated from college again. Crazy to feel the thrill of a BYU victory that was both amazing and inspiring. Crazy to see “84″ and know that patience, planning, and pride give power to the weary and strength to the brave. My blood does, indeed, run blue . . . but doesn’t everyone’s?
Vera Meadows McKee
Friendswood, Texas
