Regardless how long this 15 minutes of quasi "fame" actually lasts (hopefully beyond Thursday!), I'm trying to put it to good use while I can. Last Friday, I went and spoke to the 3rd grade bilingual students at Austin Elementary here in Tyler.
The kids were amazing, and it's definitely the most fun I've had throughout this process as a "Best Job" finalist.
I had been planning for a few months to speak at one of their classes and encourage the kids to study hard and go to college. Once I became a finalist, however, their teacher and I saw it as an opportunity to excite them about the benefits of education.
If I hadn't graduated from college, I wouldn't have been qualified for the island caretaker position, and we wanted the students to make that connection.
I tried to show them that education, physical fitness and staying out of trouble are all key ingredients to living a successful life, regardless what you do. Hopefully some of them took it to heart.
In the end, the kids seemed most excited about kangaroos, back-flips and the fact that I could speak to them in Spanish. But I hope at least a few will remember the more "educational" aspects of the message as well.
After crowding around for handshakes, hugs and some autographs (ha!), the students were excited to show off their pet corn snake.
It was an appropriate finale to their many questions about the animals in Australia, including whether or not I would be afraid of the sharks, kangaroos and tigers.
:-)
