It’s almost the end of October and it’s been over a month since my last post. I had made an unofficial promise to myself that I would post at least once every month but sometimes that is not an easy feat because in the blink of an eye, it seems, a month passes by. (Or maybe, it’s just October. I’ve never made a post in October.) Since the start of September my days of lazing away have been made non-existent with my seemingly unending duties of new employment.
When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher. I am not sure what had compelled me to say so at the time but I distinctly remember saying those thoughts aloud when I was about 7 years old. Although, to be fair, I distinctly remember saying, too, that I wanted to be a meteorologist, an environmental scientist, an ecologist, a linguist, a land surveyor, a flight attendant, a pilot, an air traffic controller, a pharmacist, a public health inspector, an agronomist, a receptionist, a secretary, a librarian, a forensic scientist, a firefighter, a physiotherapist, and an archaeologist… So does that really count?
If I were to think long and hard about it though, I doubt my desire to teach or have a career in any other field came from anything concrete. Deciding I wanted to be a teacher possibly didn’t stem from anything more than just wanting to write on the board. As a student, I always liked writing on the board. I’ve never been good at oratory and I have always preferred to have more moments by myself instead of being the centre of attention at all times. Those seem to be two givens in teaching so it must have been the chance to write on the board all day that got me. Sounds like a trifle way to make a lifetime decision but what did I know at 7 years old? Ha! What do I know at 24 years old for that matter?
It has been about 17 years since I said I wanted to be a teacher and for the second time in less than a year, I have been given the opportunity to do so. This time though, I had a choice, and I chose teaching. Now, I would love to say that I my reasons were purely altruistic but I’d be lying. But anyway, my reasons for teaching aren’t the reason for this post. So, I’m back at my old high school teaching Geography and Environmental Science. I have now been there for almost two months and I can firmly declare that it has been quite different from my first experience as a teacher at the school.
I am not now blessed with the time to write in detail about this experience but I may do so when the time allows. For now, I will just say that I could possibly use half the adjectives in my vocabulary to adequately describe some aspect of the experience but the one adjective that wouldn’t fit is “boring”. It’s been demanding, depressing, tiresome, funny, enlightening, inspiring, testing, frustrating, interesting, unpredictable, a little exciting… But never dull… Never boring.
So while the passage of Hurricane Sandy rendered my school (and most others) closed for a few days, I have been making use of the opportunity to better organize myself and be prepared for the reopening of school. I have paused for a few minutes from those school related activities to write this post. They say a teacher’s work is never done and I believe being new to the profession and just learning the ropes makes it all the more difficult. As my little sister wisely declared (she’s 8 years old), “Teaching is hard work! But, at least you have a job.” I’m beginning to think she’s way smarter than I was at that age.
