Inspiration... Where does it come from and how did it get there?

What is it that inspires us to do what we believe we are meant to do as a profession for the rest of our lives?  What is the trigger that alerts our brains to wake up and take notice?  Hey! Check this out! It might be something you're actually good at!  Is it innate? Inherited? Instilled?

Here's what I know about inspiration.  As a teenager, I enjoyed working at my father's drugstore, so I thought I wanted to go into a medical field.  That was the plan until I tried something completely different - a summer job at a daycare center.

At that moment, I chose to become a teacher.  I have never looked back or wondered if I should have chosen another path.  Being in that environment that summer was the inspiration my heart was yearning for.

As a teacher embracing my new role at The Travel Store, I sometimes ask myself, Why do I do this every day?  What we do, what we provide isn't on any standardized test, so why help teachers plan field trips? Does anybody really care about field trips?

This is why field trips matter.

Last spring I witnessed twin brothers standing side by side as the waves of the Atlantic Ocean gently washed over their feet for the first time.  They stared quietly and motionlessly to somewhere I would never know.  There we were, mesmerized by what inspired each of us at that moment.  I saw with my own eyes the impact a field trip can have on students, how it can change them forever.  Nothing is more inspirational than that.

I wish to take every student to an unforgettable moment like that, a moment where they can truly experience something only imagined, a moment that will inspire them for a lifetime.

Won't you come along with us?

Kathy Freund

General Manager