Ruben Griego

EDU214-3001
Flowers
8/31/2021

To Teach or Not Teach That Is the Question

It all started in a galaxy far far away, or at least it feels like that. I graduated high school

back in 2000, and as a young fresh faced 18 year old the only thing that mattered was metal,

video games and more metal. I was about to embark on my college adventure without really

knowing what laid ahead of me. I decided then that teaching was what I wanted to do. Little did I

know that was exactly what I wasn't going to do for the next 20 years. When I started school I

landed a part time job at the Bellagio box office. I was a ticket seller for the show “O” which at

that time was the hottest ticket in town. On top of going to school full time and working part

time. I started playing in local bands. As time went by the band started getting more popular. I

was being promoted at work at a pretty rapid rate, and I felt like something had to give.

Unfortunately that thing was school. I just couldn't handle the pressure of classes on top of my

job responsibilities and the naive dream of trying to become a rockstar. I told myself that I could

go back and finish anytime I wanted. As each year passed school became more and more of a

distant memory than an actual reality. Work on the other hand was going great. I was fortunate

enough to be on the opening teams for The Beatles Love at the Mirage, Jersey Boys at the

Ventian, and Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. The band was doing just fine. We were gaining steam

locally to the point where we were selling out almost every show we played. We were able to get

a guest spot on the Van’s Warped Tour, and the New England Hardcore Metal Festival. We were

even getting attention from record labels. Life was good.

 Fast forward a couple of years I met a girl, we got married, and had a family. The band

was still doing well, but that dream of stardom seemed to be further and further out of my reach,

and just didn't seem as important anymore. When I found out my wife was pregnant with our

second child, I knew that it was time to hang up the music thing even if only for a little while. I

needed to focus on my family and that's exactly what I did. Still in the entertainment industry I

was now the Entertainment Manager for the Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip, but it just didn't feel

like it was the right fit for me. Apparently my director felt the same way and soon I was out of a

job. We had just moved into our new home, I had a wife, two small children, and didn't really

know what to do next. Luckily I wasn’t out for work for long. I made enough contacts and

friends that I received a call from an unlikely place, Ticketmaster. 9 years and hundreds of

concerts later I am still at Ticketmaster. However the recent pandemic has literally brought my

industry to its knees. With thousands of shows cancelling and no real sight of when live

entertainment will return I have hit another crossroads in my life. I am one of the lucky few in

this industry to still be working, but for how long? With this in mind I decided there is no time

better than now to go back to school and pick up where I left off. I’ve often thought if I were to

return to school what would it be for, and each time it's always the same thing. I’ve never seen

myself as anything else but a teacher. It just seemed that life didn't have the same plan at least

not until now. Twenty years later I think it’s time to finish what I started.
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