My family business is the business of education: becoming a teacher is the thing to do in my family. It was an incredible environment to grow up in and to have around me now as an adult… but I was never one of them.

I cycled through a number of career aspirations as I moved along my educational path: forensic anthropologist, marine biologist, midwife, and ultimately Naturopathic Doctor.  But joining the family lineage of teachers never crossed my mind.  I worked my way diligently through the 8 years of schooling required to become a Naturopathic Doctor and after graduation I joined a Naturopathic practice and began seeing patients.  Months later, during a very busy time where I felt like every minute of my day had something scheduled in it, I decided to take a moment to breathe and to reflect on my current activities.  And there it was, staring me right in the face: I had become a teacher!
The obvious clue to this revelation was that I had recently accepted a last minute teaching position at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine.  But as the events leading from my childhood to that very moment began to move into focus, I realized that teaching had been there all along.  As a child I was always organizing some activity for the neighborhood kids, or teaching a dance to my friends (I just assumed I was a bossy kid, but maybe there was something more to it!).
From my summer job leading cultural activities for ESL students to my recent presentations for grade 10 Career Planning classes, it was apparent that there was no escaping the family business, and that was alright by me.   I realized that these experiences shared a common theme of supporting, informing and empowering individuals in some way or another.  I also realized that this is the definition of teaching.
Being a teacher doesn’t mean that you just stand all day at the front of a class, scribbling algebra or verb conjugations on a chalk board.  Being a teacher means that you help others find the tools to discover what is already inside of them.  Being an educator means that you foster a healthy curiosity about life, about the social norm, about ourselves. A truly gifted educator teaches us by example to move through life with curiosity, determination, respect and love for ourselves and for others.
I was told in my grade 11 Career and Personal Planning class that I would change careers at least 5 times over the course of my life.  What I love about Naturopathic Medicine is that I get to have many careers all wrapped into one.  Every day I have the privilege and pleasure of interacting with patients on a deeply personal level, listening to their concerns and celebrating their triumphs.  I help to facilitate choice and support action.  But best of all, I get to share in the universal family business of educating; because in one way or another we are all teachers.