I have always encouraged my children to be open to trying new things and challenging experiences.  I believe the reward is usually worth the hard work and effort. For years, I enjoyed watching my son Sean play hockey.  It looked like such a fun game. When a friend asked me if I wanted to join a “learn to play hockey” program I decided to give it a try.  At the time I didn’t even know how to skate. I quickly fell in love with the game and joined an adult women’s hockey team. Sean helped me to learn positioning and better understand strategy.  He helped me practice my skills on our backyard rink. Soon thereafter, my daughter Katie decided that she wanted to play as well. I ended up being an assistant coach for Katie’s youth hockey teams for five years.  I was with her on the ice at practices and on the bench at games. We spent countless hours in the car and nights in hotels, traveling to her competitions. Hockey was a big part of Sean’s and Katie’s childhood and was a common experience that tied us together.   

The joy and feeling of accomplishment I get from playing hockey is definitely worth the years of effort it took to get here.  Hockey is my happy place. And every now and then, my kids make my day and join me on the ice once again.

Marnie Weinmann

Teacher

Plank North Elementary

I'm sure Marnie would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment.

The story of how this image came to be is not to be believed, but that's for another day.

Cory and I met several years ago when I was working at Willink Middle School.  We just kind of hit it off.  When I needed a few models to participate in a photography education event held by the Greater Rochester Professional Photographers organization, Cory was ready and willing to help me out  We've been friends ever since and have had many a conversation about fun things to do in Rochester, great restaurants and what we did over the weekend. What's so cool about our relationship is that he's my son's age, but we operate as friends instead of a mom/son thing. 

As this photography project began, I knew that I wanted a diverse group of people to participate in sharing their stories.  I felt that Cory would be a great addition. After conversation and several months of considering image ideas, we honed in on this concept that really does justice to the struggles he's been going through. 

In his words:

Crossroads

An Introspective Vignette

Success is certain.

But only when the path to the top is clearly defined.

Each milestone perfectly staggered, building off each other to propel you onto the next big thing.

As a society, we have mapped this progression out for our adolescents. You know what needs to be done to get ahead.

License, check; Graduate from high school, check; Get accepted into college, check. Graduate from college, check.

First “real” job, check. First apartment, check. Get a Master’s Degree, check.

What they don’t tell you is that the milestones become less frequent, more loosely defined, and then all together stop.

Who do you become when there is nowhere left to go and nothing left to check off?

The path no longer has the appropriate signage and trailheads. It’s not freshly paved. You start to encounter the forks in the roads a little more often, forced to pick a direction.

Eventually those forks become full-blown, four-way crossroads and to check off another milestone takes a leap of faith.

Here I stand now, 26 years old, a novella of milestones and check marks behind me and no idea what direction I will go in next. Overwhelmed. Apprehensive. Lost.

No matter the path I take, I know one thing:

Success is certain.

Cory Gomez

Teacher on Special Assignment

Webster Thomas and Schroeder High Schools

If you enjoyed this story, check out my other stories on previous posts and be sure to find out about the original idea HERE .  Oh yeah, be sure to leave a comment too!