.png)
written by: Jacasa Currie
editing and proofreading reviewed by: Daniel Currie
Let's welcome Jacasa of Blooming Thoughts officially with a special edition blog where she allows you to pull back the veil to see what makes her tick!
Enjoy the Podcast wherever you listen; just search Guiding Teenagers or check it out here!
Hello, everyone. My name is Jacasa. I am the newest member of Guiding Teenagers. I also have my own blog, Blooming Thoughts. I decided to join the Guiding Teenagers blog when Dan asked me to be a guest blogger. He asked me if I would be interested in joining full-time, so I said yes. Fun fact: We are actually cousins!
I was asked to join because of my writings in my personal blog and also based on my experience with kids/teens. I have worked in schools and am also getting my degree in teaching for elementary school. I have an associate degree in early childhood education from Morrisville State College. I am currently attending SUNY Oneonta. I feel as though I have a lot to offer the Guiding Teenagers blog due to my education and experience, and I am excited to have joined the team.
Personally, I am 27 (28 in September). I live with my fiancé, our four dogs, three cats, and our turtle. I enjoy gardening, reading, sewing, bird watching, camping, hiking, kayaking, and really just anything outside. I sometimes say that I am kind of an old lady since I enjoy lots of the things that old ladies enjoy. But I think that they are all quality hobbies.
So, why did I decide to become a teacher? I decided to become a teacher because growing up, I was influenced by my teachers and oftentimes was closer to the teachers than my peers. I struggled socially since I was very shy, which is much different from how I am now. I remember I had one specific teacher who really helped me. I took chemistry my Junior year. I failed every single test that I took. My teacher, instead of just letting me fail, took the time to stay after school with me every single day and look over those tests and retake them. I passed the class and the regents. I have never forgotten that. I plan to be the same kind of teacher. I also feel as though teachers are super important. People do not understand how important teachers are. We are teaching children everything. Sometimes even teaching them values. When COVID hit, I was working in the school, and we had switched to virtual learning. Many parents couldn't understand how we did this every single day. That was the first time people really started to appreciate teachers. I also feel strongly that we are shaping the next generation, and if we want them to be successful, we have to guide them in the right direction.
Going to school is a little more difficult for me as an adult than it is for people who attend right out of high school. I cannot just go to class. I also have to work, as I have a car and a house. I do feel as though it helps me to better appreciate my education because I know how much it sucks to work dead-end jobs. Right out of high school, I attended Cazenovia College, which has since closed, for graphic design. I realized that I did not want to use that degree, and so I took time off. I worked in retail and hated it. I realized that I did not want to work at a job that I hated every single day. So, I decided to go back to college. I changed my mind many times; at one point, I wanted to be a Physical Therapist Assistant just like my Uncle (Guiding Teenager's Dan Currie's dad), but then I changed my mind to an x-ray technician. But I felt like none of those were really what I wanted to do. So, after some more switching around and soul-searching, I decided to do what I had always wanted to do, which was to be a teacher.
When I was growing up, I used to line up all my dolls at my grandma's house and teach them everything I learned that day. I loved the idea of being a teacher. Knowledge is power, and I could provide that to people. I never pursued teaching due to others telling me it wasn't worth it because teachers don't get paid a lot, and it is a high-stress job. But, it was my passion to work with kids and teach so I decided it was time to do this for me. When I started my degree and started working with kids, I realized that I had found my niche. I absolutely love it. I am not working in schools right now because the school schedule does not allow me to work during the day, which is unfortunate. So, for the moment, I work at Mcdonalds, which I do enjoy.
Along with teaching, I also decided to minor in Educational Psychology; when I took childhood psychology, I was fascinated. I myself have had a lot of issues in mental health, which started in childhood/teens, so I feel as though I could help those kids to intercept their problems early to help them in their adult lives. I plan to teach for a little while, then go back and get a psychology degree so that I can be a child psychologist or a counselor. I feel as though I could really help kids that way.
On the blog front, I decided to make my own blog to share my experiences with the world. I have been through a lot in my life. I actually had started a blog a while back that was about the same things, but I decided I was not mentally ready to share those things yet. I had quite a large following, so I told myself I would get back to when I got better. Now, I have "graduated" from therapy and feel strong enough to handle it. So, I started my blog back up. I have written a few blogs. One was about my experiences, and a few others on various topics. My goal for my blog is to reach people who have suffered from mental illness or have dealt with PTSD or domestic abuse in the current times or the past. They are hard things to deal with, and I feel as though my experiences could help people. I also want to be able to interact with my readers. It is extremely hard to get people to interact with my blogs, but I just hope that people continue to tune in.
I also wanted to add a bit about why I started gardening because it is something super important to me. At one point, I had moved in with my grandmother because my grandfather had passed, and she was struggling to be by herself. She was very into gardening and had always tried to get me to garden with her when I was younger, but I wanted nothing to do with it. So, as I got older and was living with her, she needed help with her garden. I started helping and ended up falling in love with it. I felt as though it was really helping me with my anxiety, which I was really struggling with at the time. It is also rewarding to plant something and watch it grow especially every year. When I moved, I took every single plant with me to my new house. After my grandmother passed away, my garden became even more important to me. I cry every single year that my lilies bloom because I used to give them to her on Mother's Day every year. Now, they bloom in my garden, a little piece of her. I also have an obsession with indoor plants. I created my own office, and in it, there are many plants. I think like 20, I don't know, I haven't counted. My fiance says I have a problem, but I think he is just jealous that I have a green thumb, and he doesn't.
Here is me with my unbloomed lily. It grew to be over 5 ft tall!
I also highly suggest that people who have anxiety try reading if they haven't already. I feel as though it takes me to a whole other world, and I can forget about my problems for a little while. I try to read every single day. I read on my breaks at work and when I get home before I go to bed. It is really relaxing and can really calm you down. There are so many genres and different books out there that everyone could find something they enjoy. I also enjoy reading books that have movies out because I like to watch the movies and compare (the book is always better than the movie).
Check out what I am reading now:
I also really enjoy photography! I started a photography business a while ago. I really enjoy taking photos. My favorite photos to take are close-up wildlife photos. I feel as though I am really good at that. I do take pictures of people as well, which is where the business side comes in. I have done a lot of one-on-one photoshoots, a senior photo shoot, a maternity, and a newborn shoot. If you or anyone you know are interested in getting a photoshoot done, let me know. I offer affordable pricing! My business is called Jacasa June Photography.
Interested and looking for your next photographer? Inquire with Jacasa June Photography - email here!
Enjoy one of my favorite photos I have ever taken:
Now that I have bored you all with reading my very long post, I shall finish up. I really enjoy writing and hope you guys can enjoy my writing as well. I am excited to have joined the Guiding Teenagers blog and podcast, and I look forward to the journey ahead. If you did not check out last week's blog post, please check it out, I wrote it! I think it will resonate with many. And also, check out my blog at https://bloomingthoughtsjjc.blogspot.com/
Blooming Thoughts: Passion Viewed Through the Eyes of Jacasa — The Podcast
Love it? Share it! (links below the written date/references!) Make sure they know where it came from 👌
Take me back to more blog articles! ✒️
Originally Written on: July 3, 2024