In the famous poem “The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost says, “Two roads diverged in a wood and, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” My mom could’ve easily stayed in accounting, but took her own less traveled road to soon become a computer science teacher. On her road she found the career she loved. Our story starts back in the youth of Lee Misch, my mom.

As a young girl she loved school, and she decided that she wanted to be a math teacher. At the time when she graduated high school, preparing to attend UNLV, there were too many teachers, and they didn’t have good salaries. Her mother, Maria Levy, wanted her only daughter to major in accounting, a more practical job. Her fears got the better of her when she started taking classes to become a math teacher. She had always been a timid person, and was apprehensive of talking in front of all the students she would have. The dream her mother had for her became reality when she got the accounting degree, instead. Soon after earning that degree she got a job in public accounting. To become a CPA (certified public accountant) you have to pass a national test and work in public accounting for two years. Of course, being the intelligent woman my mother is, she passed the test. One and half years into her job, she was absolutely hated accounting. Even so, she stuck it out to achieve her mother’s goal for her. After accomplishing in becoming a CPA; she quit to prepare to go back to college.

She started attending the requirement classes to get her degree as a math teacher. She got a suggestion to take a programming class, and deciding to take since there was nothing to lose. On the first exam she acquired the highest grade; she was then advised to major in computer science for her apparent talent. To get a masters degree she just needed to take the required undergraduate courses. She already had her BS (Bachelor of Science) from accounting. To help pay for the classes she had an assistantship (helps pay tuition by working in the department you’re in). Her work in the department was teaching pre calculus and computer science. She enjoyed it and was very good at it, too. When she got her degree the chair of the department encouraged her to apply for the open position. She received the position, and she began teaching and advising students. She has been teaching the computer science at UNLV for 24 years, now.

The easy way is ultimately not the best. You need to put in hard work to make your achievements worth while, and when you find the thing you love it is great. Do you think it was easy for my mom to realize she should be a computer science teacher? No, she worked two years in a job so didn’t even like, but that helped her find her dream career.