My Mother - Henry Wilkinson, 3/28/17

When I think about my family, I often wonder what my mother was like before the world hurt her. The way women are treated, the societal inequalities that women face, and family issues all contributed to who my mother is. She is a good person, an admirable parent and teacher, and I love her very much, but I know that the world has placed a lot on her shoulders. My grandfather, her father, was a college professor so teaching was in the family- it makes sense that she would go on to become a teacher. However, she once had ambitions of working for the CIA. Her application to work there was accepted and she got as far as the screening process where officials interviewed various people in her life to see if she would make a good agent. It was always so cool to me when I was little knowing that my mom almost became a spy. But in the last minute, right when she was offered a job, she realized that it was too much for her. She realized that working for the CIA would be too much of a pressure on top of all the other things she had to deal with, and she decided to stay a middle school teacher.
She is good at what she does, and the fulfillment she receives from her job is more than I could ask for, but I still have to ask myself, "had the world not hurt her, would my mother be an agent?" I don't know what thought process she went through when deciding to stay a teacher, maybe marriage had to do with it, maybe she wanted to be a present figure in her children's lives. I'm more than thankful for having her be so involved with me growing up. I also wonder, is this really what she wanted all along? Did she make the decision to stay a teacher in order to fill the roles set out for her by society: to nurture, to teach, and to be the caregiver of the family. Given, my mother and father shared care giving responsibilities, but I still wonder... and wonder. Did she stay a teacher so that her job wouldn't "outrank" my father's, who is the Head Golf Professional at the UNC Golf Course? Did she want to be on an "equal level" with him? I do not know the answers, but after our discussion about marriage in class and reading the texts we were assigned, I have a lot to contemplate over.