I’ve had a SmugMug online photography account for a bit, but last year while teaching my media class l I found SmugMug Films in my link. SmugMug Films shares the adventures of photographers and videographers from around the world (and one time in Space!). My media (and robotics) classes were funded via Career Technical Education funding, which means that part of my mandate is to prepare students to develop a “career mindset,” that looks past the years that they have and will spend in the classroom. 

Truth be told we tend to grow up thinking that the only thing(s) we can do in life are the things that we see the adults around us do. So, regardless of what my own particular talents or desires might be, growing up in a working-class 40-hour-work-week family tended to lead me away from a career that wasn’t about clocking in on Monday mornings for five eight-hour shifts. Regardless of what my teachers and professors told me, I couldn’t imagine making a living writing or playing music or anything that wasn’t nine-to-five/Monday through Friday. Given that most of my student come from similar or less advantaged families, it’s all the more important to expose them to stories about professionals who are able to pursue careers that aren’t necessarily connected to something “practical,” like photographing volcanos in Guatemala and other weather/natural events around the world. One shouldn’t have to wait for or run the risk of waiting for retirement to do the thing(s) that they love to do (for a living).