Om Shanti

I have the best job in the world. It seems that lately most of the people I know are sort of stuck in a strange place in regards to their working (or not working) situation. People our age have had way more jobs then our parents generation- most people probably don't even have a career at this point or have no idea what their career may end up being. The dream job is definititely worth waiting for, totally worth pursuing. I am there, I found my life's calling, my career, my dream job.

I took 2 years after college to just "figure things out" by hanging out and waiting tables. Eventually I decided to follow in my mother's footsteps and get my Masters in Early Childhood Education. After 2 years of interning full time in Brookline, Ma and then a year at a progressive pre-school in Cambridge, Ma., I fell into a first grade teaching position at a school in Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. While my first few years of teaching in the Boston area prepared me for my first real "I have my own classroom" teaching job, I was not prepared to be a minority in a predominantly black and hispanic neighborhood. Brookline and Cambridge are extremely multi-cultural and diverse. Where I grew up was also extremely diverse. Coney Island was not. This was an eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience and very much an education into a whole other world than what watching MTV can not possibly give you.

Those years of teaching in CI gave me a completely new perspective on my life. I realized how friggin lucky I was to be born to my parents and to basically be given everything I needed to be a productive, happy member of society. These kids are not quite as lucky. They are fighting an uphill battle every day and will be until the day they die. Believe me, some will leave Coney Island or whatever other ghetto they live in because they want something more, something better. Most others will not and will continue the cycle that plagues these inner city, poverty stricken neighborhoods. And I'm not saying that every parent is the same, some were amazing. But living in the 'hood is a scary place. Ask Jay-Z, he'll tell ya.

The first 2 years there were probably the most difficult 2 years I've ever had to deal with - emotionally, physically, mentally, it almost broke me. Lots of conversations and many tears later, I realized I had a purpose and I needed to perservere. 5 years later, I knew it was exactly the job for me. But not exactly. I knew I needed to be a teacher, I knew I needed to teach kids who are considered "at-risk" who live in inner city neighborhoods, I knew though that I couldn't be a teacher in the public schools of NYC forever. I wasn't going to end up like those bitter, old teachers who were meaner to the kids then their parents (unfortunately thats what happens). I needed to get out and try to combine my 2 passions into a job that would fulfill me completely. I decided to be a children's yoga teacher. I got my certification, I worked a few months at a children's yoga place and then I decided to move to San Francisco.

Somehow, (I still don't really know how they found me) I was offered a job teaching yoga as a specialist at a non-profit pre-school in 2 of 3 different locations in SF. The Whitney Young Child Development Centers are located in poor and disadvantaged neighborhoods and service many "at-risk" students as well as many kids with special needs. This was it. I knew all my years of teaching would bring me to this place.

I walk in every morning to a barrage of 2-6 year olds hugging me and begging me "can I go with you?" These children love me and tell me that every day. I hug and kiss them and expand the minds and bodies of these precious beings. I teach them about peace and about loving themselves. I listen when they tell me they miss their dad who is in jail or when their friend is being mean to them or all about their new baby brother. When I meet their parents on occasion, they always thank me. But believe me, its not all roses. Sometimes I want to pull my hair out- disciplining is just not fun and just not what I feel like doing anymore. I left public school for that reason. And when I hear those stories, those awful stories, I want to cry for them. Sometimes I even do. But most of the time I am in heaven. I say to myself every day how lucky I am to be doing this.

On the flip side, I also teach gymnastics in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. I go from Bayview to the Presidio almost every day. These kids are taken care of by nannies and barely see their parents. They live in beautiful houses and travel and eat really well, but ya know, they have their own share of issues. And I happen to love these kids too.

What it comes down to is that kids are kids no matter where they come from. But just know that it is clear to me (being around over 200 kids a week) just who is loved and who is ignored. Money and neighborhood aside, a parents job is to listen to, spend time with, nurture, read to, respect, feed, bathe and most of all- just love their children. What I love about my job is that its teaching me how to be a parent. Which is really the most important job there is.

So just hang in there. It's out there for everyone. Just find that thing- that job, that music, that apt, that city to live in, those friends, that relationship, those kids that makes you say "I am so lucky" every day.