Teaching -Week 1

Week one is complete!

Now onto a long weekend to relax and soak in the remaining days of summer, right? Wrong. How quickly I allowed myself to forget all of the wonderful perks of grading for a high school English class. It is clearly my own fault, seeing as though I am the one who assigns the work. While it would be convenient, coordinating assignments with my social calendar is not going to get me the new teacher-of-the-year award nor is it going to advance my students test scores (all of which are contingent on keeping this lovely job I have acquired).

I spent my first evening of the long holiday weekend consuming massive amounts of sweets at our local fair, followed by my alma mater’s rivalry football game, and the next day celebrating my beautiful cousin’s wedding (I forgot the camera at home and have not come to terms with it yet). In attempts to keep a positive balance between work and play, the final two days of the holiday weekend have been spent buried amongst my student’s essays, collages, and exams. I have to admit, I am extremely close to the edge at this point snapping at anyone who interferes with my task. And with this drop in temperature we are experiencing, I am too clearly reminded of the many cold, dreary, winter days ahead that I despise so much. My optimism began to suffer today. I heard the cynicism in my voice and felt the expression of misery as I looked out the window. So I got away from it. Gave myself time to refresh and began to realize how lucky I am.

I have the job of my choice at a great school, within such a rewarding profession. I have a roof over my head, plenty of food to eat, and loving family & friends, which sadly, is more than I can say for many of my students. I’m going to have bad days, we all do. It’s how we handle those bad days/times that defines us as a person.

Thank You

I am now an employed full-time high school English teacher!!

I am ecstatic with the current state my life is in. The past few years have presented numerous obstacles, if you know me then you are fully aware of the roadblocks I encountered on my way to becoming a teacher: Maybe you were there when I decided to re-route my initial career decision and go back to college for a second, completely different degree. Or maybe you were there when I was I diagnosed with Chronic Mono and told to stay on bed rest for months at time while still completing my 18 credit hour semester (yep, dean’s list). You could have been there a couple months later, at the start of my 5 summer courses spanning across 3 colleges, when my appendix burst requiring emergency surgery and putting me back out of commission (yep, dean’s list again). I had enough for one year right? Wrong. A broken ankle/foot placing me on crutches for the first 2 months of my student teaching (during a Cleveland winter), was still in store for me. Maybe you held the door for me, carried my things, made dinner, gave me words of encouragement, or did anything that required standing/walking for me. Finally healthy again for the home stretch, yes, finally. In order to cap off the most grueling 2 years of my life- I was required to go to work every day, put in 50 hours a week, then come home and grade, make up tests, lesson plans, etc. duties of a teacher- for FREE, all while continuing to pay the $7,000 in tuition per semester my college charged. As they so delicately imbedded into our minds, we have been given not only the opportunity, but also the privilege to pay for school, while doing someone else’s daily work who actually is getting paid, all to make the second lowest salary in a profession across America.

Who would want to go through that? Me, and millions of other teachers out there. I would re-live each and every moment, obstacle, and triumph to be where I am today. I want to thank everyone that has taken a ride on this journey with me, whether major or minor, I want to say that I cannot thank you enough for your support, advice and encouragement. I will be forever grateful.

Thank you for never giving up on me or letting me give up on myself, I love you.