Born to Be a Teacher Madelyn Vollmer

Most new couples dream of one day hearing the pitter-patter of little feet running through the hallways of their home—my parents had no idea that this pitter-patter would be quite so loud and destructive. From as early as the age of six, I led my little brother and sister throughout our house in constant searches for hidden treasures, special cures, or famous artifacts. Though we rarely found the caches of jewels we hoped to find in our kitchen cabinets or between the couch cushions, the journey was always much more fun than achieving the objective anyway.

My siblings were just happy to be invited along on whatever grand adventure I had undertaken that morning, but for me it wasn’t so much the anticipation of imaginary treasures that encouraged me to embark on these campaigns. Rather it was the enjoyment of leading my siblings in random patterns around the house and seeing their gleeful faces as they begged me, “What happens next? What are we gonna do now?” Creating games and stories for my siblings became my favorite thing to do on my days off of school, and it became clear to me that this was something I would be happy to do forever. My passion never changed as I grew up, though my siblings’ interests did, and it seemed that...