I Am An Educator (Part 1)

Sunday 6th May 2018

#iamaneducator, a hastag that I have used a lot over the years in social Media. But what exactly does it mean? 

To different people it means a lot of different things, to me, it means that I have been given an amazing opportunity to help shape the minds of some equally amazing children who I have the privilege of spending time with each day. My day time job is my greatest passion in life and over this series of posts I invite you all to come on an amazing journey with me as I delve into what stokes my passion for this amazing profession. 

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. It seems like a good place to start after all. My name is Sharon Priestley, but I'm sure you can see that already at the top of the page. I have been an Early Childhood Educator for the past 8 years. Not a long time considering I have been on this earth for almost 49 years already (Arghhhh). 

I spent most of my life working in retail from the moment I left school. To be honest, school was not one of my favourite places to be as like a lot of children, I was bullied a lot and found going to School each day an unpleasant experience mostly. I really only excelled at a few topics such as Home Economics and English. Which in it's self is amazing because without the aide of a spellchecker on this document alone, you would probably be reading something that resembles a train crash. Spelling aside, I discovered I had a passion for writing and cooking in school. So, at the beginning of year 10, I decided to pull the plug and leave my education behind while I went to seek my fortune as a Celebrity Cookbook author. 

Sadly, that career never got off the ground because apparently you needed qualifications in cooking to be able to write about it and I wasn't at school long enough to achieve that. Go figure! I did what most school leavers did when they had virtually no qualifications, I started work in the retail industry. For the next 24 years I worked in an industry I hated. Dealing with adults is hard work at times. I worked in Department Stores where I rose to the dizzying heights as a Department Manger. I managed a second-hand store for a number of years as well as my last retail experience, working in a Piano shop with no knowledge of actually knowing how to play a musical instrument (talk about selling ice to Eskimos). 

I finally reached the age of 40 and thought, there has to be something better out there for me. As it turns out, my partner at the time told me about a job going for a cook at a Childcare Centre. I thought, why not, I'll give it a go, whats the worse that can happen? I mean I still loved cooking and how hard could it be to cook for a bunch of kids.......? (Oh God, take me now). 

I learnt very quickly that kids have no filter. If they don't like something, they will let you know in no uncertain terms. Even my most prized dishes that I had been cooking for years where not touched at times and that was seriously demoralising getting trolleys sent back with so much food in the scrape bucket. I had to learn that very quickly that preparing restaurant quality food when the children just wanted plain staples such as pasta, rice, mashed potato and fish fingers was the only way that i was going to keep these kids from going hungry. 

The centre where I worked was like a family, and being part of that family was amazing. It was a small 39 place centre and at times, if someone was sick, or they needed an extra hand on the floor, I would put away the apron and come out to help where needed. It was during this time, that I discovered my true passion in life. You know, I thought I had it all worked out and then something comes along and surprises you. Why hadn't i known this earlier I used to think to myself. 

The children began connecting to me like that hadn't done with the other educators in the past. I would walk into the room and within minutes I had children all wanting to sit next to me and spend time with me. To this day, the same thing happens. I can walk into a room of children I don't know and within minutes, they will be jumping over me and treating me like their own personal lounge chair. 

It's at this point I should probably make a little confession to you dear reader. When I started in this amazing industry, I presented as a Male. Now, your probably sitting back thinking "What". So, I will explain that a little further by saying I'm Transgender Educator, and thats where my story really begins.