Decisions, Decisions . . .

I had a big decision to make once I had graduated: go to work or continue my education? One thing was sure, I couldn’t go back to the old life of doing nothing after getting used to such a whirlwind schedule. The Dean of Humanities, who was my advisor, had already begun trying to persuade me to 1) become a teacher and 2) begin work on my master’s degree. Since no one was knocking on my door to hand me a job, I decided to pursue the degree (Master of Education with a specialty in English).

Meanwhile, I put my resume in at several private schools and although no offer was forthcoming, I did get lots of experience in the classroom substitute teaching. Many people think this job is the pits, but I loved it and it gave me the opportunity to try out different age levels to see which one I preferred. I came to love 7th and 8th graders with their great sense of humor and liveliness.

One thing I knew for sure was that the little ones (kindergarten and 1st graders) were not for me. They were like little roaches – I’d get them on the rug to read a story and the next thing I knew they were all crawling in different directions. I would collapse in bed for a couple of hours after taking care of them for a day.

And high schoolers were fun except they thought they knew more than I did (and they probably did, especially bout many things that I didn't want to know about). So the junior high level became my choice.

I subbed and went to school for a year and a half after I graduated and then came my call. A small Christian school asked me to teach part time (2 classes) for the next year. The kicker was that one of the classes was Algebra I (eeeek!!!) But I confidently told the board that I had plenty of help at home with the genius, and they believed me! So I was hired teaching English and math. Shortly after I started, I was asked to take on 2 more English classes (with a raise in pay, of course) and away I went!

I remained there five years before switching to a larger private school, where I taught for 13 more years. During this 18 year period, I taught mostly English grammar and literature (only one year of math, thank goodness, and a few of history thrown in) to mostly 7th and 8th graders. What wonderful years they were, too, in spite of the slips-of –the-tongue I was prone to make (see Gaffes Galore).

At aged 66 I finally came to the point where I wanted to stop and rest and take stock. So here I am, taking stock and enjoying every minute of it.