The past month seems to have flown by. From getting a job, finding a place to live, moving, and starting my first big-girl job, I have hardly had time to think! Backtrack to May 7, 2010.
I do not feel like a college graduate. It still amazes me that I am, in fact, an adult. You would think the first paycheck being deposited into my bank account would be like a "Hey! Hello! You're an adult!" But....not so much. The day of graduation seems like it was yesterday. I was eating at Mellow Mushroom with my fam. I headed over to the arena in the ridiculous May heat that the upstate has to offer. I took pictures, lots of pictures, with friends. And then I went home. Home to my apartment. A few days later, I drove back to good ol' East Cobb to spend my summer getting ready for......the real world.
I should have known my summer was going to be ridiculous. I should have known that I wasn't going to relax and enjoy summer of 2010. I should have known I was going to stress out about not having a job. But was I thinking about any of this on May 7, 2010? Negative.
As summer conitnued on, my interviews continued on. One of the many things I learned this summer: I hate job interviews. While you would think 3 years of sorority recruitment would prepare you to talk about yourself to a complete stranger, sitting in front of a principal and having them ask you questions about how you are going to teach their students how to read, write, comprehend, and everything else an English teacher does, is a completely different kind of nerve-wracking. Needless to say, I completely suck at interviewing. Having an insane advisor who never really told you what was right from wrong did not help my case in my job hunt.
And then it happened.
I walked into the school for my interview thinking "Here goes another interview for another job that I am probably not going to get because they are going to hire someone who has 'experience." During my interview, the principal asked me a total of 2 questions. I wasn't shaking with nerves. I wasn't sweating hoping my answer was right. I was completely loud, talkative, and probably seemed a little awkward. But being that I am all of those things 99.9% of the time, it seemed to work well for me. Apparently, it did work well for me. When I called a week later to follow up, I was told someone else had been hired for that position. 30 minutes later, I got a call back saying an English teacher had resigned. Did I want the job? DUH!
Two weeks later, Mom, Dad, and I drove down to apartment hunt. The next week, I moved into my apartment. A few days later, new teacher orientation began. The next week, in-service days began. And a few days later, the students arrived. Need a moment to pause? Negative.
One thing about teaching that I have come to realize: There is never enough time. Even some of my veteran teacher friends have been just as busy as I am. The biggest difference? They at least are more familiar with the material. I have to go back and read Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Macbeth. I have to learn the newspaper jargon to teach to the 9 students I have. I have to learn about theater and plays. I have to learn about picture books and why they appeal to children. I thought as a teacher, I was done with LEARNING. Negative.
I learn something new every single day at my job. It's overwhelming, crazy, and stressful; but, I love my job. I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to do. And at the end of the day, if I can actually remember to think about that, then it's a good day.
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