Why I’m Glad I Didn’t Get
Married When I Thought I Would
By Beth Finch Hedengren
“You’ll be married in
a year!” That’s what all the folks in my Minnesota ward said as I left home for
BYU. That’s what people expected of girls in 1968. When I wasn’t, I just kept
going to school. I studied English, because I loved to read, but had no plans
for a career. I went on to graduate school, because I wasn’t married yet and
why not? In graduate school I discovered a love for teaching and academic
research, but still when I graduated with my Master’s a week before I was (at
last, those Minnesota friends might say) married, I gave away all my teaching
materials. What need would I have of them?
But two years later I was back at BYU, teaching again. My
husband had accepted a teaching job here, and my old boss asked if I could take
on one class. I had a baby, but one hour three times a week seemed do-able. I
missed teaching.
So I took that class, and the next semester another. I taught
part-time for all the years my five children were little, usually sharing
childcare with my husband, teaching early in the morning or in the evening when
he could watch the children. I was so thankful to have this opportunity to
learn and grow as I taught, and to participate in a world beyond diapers and
crying children. I loved thinking of ways to teach my students, and seeing
their eyes light up when they learned. When I came back to those children after
an hour or two, I loved teaching them too, somehow more because I had been
teaching others.
As the children grew, I took on more responsibility in our
department. I taught more classes, served as part-time faculty liaison,
developed a new course, and eventually took on a three-year full-time
appointment and coordinated a section of a course. I developed leadership
skills and confidence, and I saw those skills bless others both at the
university and also in my home. Every afternoon I came home the same time my
children arrived from school and we shared all the things we were learning.
Later on, as the children left home, I took on more
opportunities. I was asked to lead a tutoring program, the Writing Fellows, and
supervise about sixty wonderful undergrads from many different majors, teaching
them how to help other students improve their writing in classes all across the
university. As part of this
position, I started developing a Writing Across the Curriculum program,
training faculty from all disciplines in how to teach their students to write
well in their particular fields. I led workshops for hundreds of faculty and
teaching assistants, and wrote a nationally published book on the topic.
This work eventually led to a full-time position, which I
was then ready to accept. As Associate Coordinator of University Writing, I was
able to continue the work of Writing Across the Curriculum as well as
contribute to the development of all aspects of writing instruction at BYU.
Now I have retired, I am still using the knowledge and
skills developed through my education and career, enriching my home, my ward,
and my life. I’m thankful for the opportunity I had to learn, and I’m thankful
for how that education has enriched my life, even though at the time I was
studying, I had no idea how it would be such a blessing. How thankful I am that
I didn’t get married when I thought I would!
This sounds like my life! Thanks, Beth! Lovely as always. Margaret
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret!
DeleteLoved this one, Beth. You are always so wise and articulate.
ReplyDeleteLoved this one, Beth. You are always so wise and articulate.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Geri!
Delete