Last Day of School 2018

Pretty self explanatory! 

So in a crazy turn of events I became a teacher last August. (You can read more about that here)

Today was the last day of a very crazy school year (pay raises, walkouts, and a flood...oh my) and I have a few (okay a lot) of observations.

The girl on the left had NO idea if she had made the worst mistake of her life
The girl on the right knows that it was the biggest leap of faith and the best thing she's ever done

The girl of the left just left a job that she hated
The girl on the right goes to work every day and is amazed she gets paid to do what she does because she loves it so much

The girl on the left was worried that the kids would hate her
The girl on the right has to kick the children out of her room because they want to be there ALL THE TIME

The girl on the left thought she knew what happy was, and she did, but didn't realize it could carry over to her job
The girl on the right is fulfilling her life's passion and loving every second


So a lot has changed since August 17. I was really nervous that first day. I walked into my first day not really knowing anyone and terrified to face kids. The wonderful art teacher took me under her wing as I walked in the cafeteria and one of the instructional coaches never let me go a second without thinking I was completely cut out for the job.

At the same time as this I was stage managing Little Women. The first day of school we had our first blocking rehearsal. The director, a close friend and fellow introvert, spent his day teaching high school, followed by teaching a college class, and rounding out with rehearsal. At the end of the night he was dead on his feet and I was bouncing off the walls. As we were leaving he looked at me and said "how are you not tired?" I told him "this is the first time in years I have not spent my day saying 'I hate my job' over and over."

This year I'm pretty sure I learned more than the kids did! I've always heard if YOU want to become an expert at something then teach it and boy, oh boy, did I find that to be true!

At the middle school...

I watched kids who would not speak in class bloom into the kids I had to tell to be quiet over and over.

I watched kids who were terrified to speak to their peers go to contest and place.

I watched kids who had never been given a chance at a big role blossom with an individual event.

I watched kids smile and have fun and laugh and goof off.

I watched kids keep coming back for more even when I made them write notes from bell to bell for five weeks solid and gave ridiculously confusing tests (did I mention I learned a lot this year?)

I watched sixth graders grow from little kids to teenagers in nine short months.

I watched seventh graders gain more confidence and stand up for what they believed to be right.

I watched eighth graders who never thought they could do 'this' turn into the most passionate hard working kids I've ever seen.

I watched a team form and saw them band together to help and encourage each other

I watched that team take second at their first tournament and kids who had never performed in front of people take home medals

With the high school...

I watched two very brave girls get out of a comfortable suburban with their friends to get into a suburban driven by the new middle school teacher

I relearned debate and became pretty confident in judging it

I sang along (very badly) to Hamilton with debate kids on the way to tournament after tournament

I learned the value of the french and dutch braids and letting the girls braid my hair, especially on long tournament weekends with rain when a few more minutes of sleep is WAY more valuable than curling one's hair

I watched a group of kids pour their hearts into personal pieces that dealt with parents, disability, losing friends, and difficult teachers and watched them succeed week after week telling these stories

I watched kids who set the bar way too low for themselves vastly outdo themselves

I watched kids go from not knowing their piece at the beginning of the week to qualifying for regionals on the weekend.

I laughed (a lot) in suburbans and on buses and in hotels and in cafeterias

I sat on pins and needles waiting for results of rounds

I hurt with them when they didn't do as well as they wanted

I screamed and rejoiced when they won

I laughed at a million inside jokes over and over again

I walked millions of steps all over the place including a trip to a museum, looking for statues, shopping, and boba tea

I cried with them at surprises and watched them do amazing things outside of the team

I tried my hardest to be there for them when they just needed to know an adult genuinely cared

I came to love these kids with all of my heart at both schools. I cannot imagine not having my 8th graders next year every day and don't get me started on how much I will miss the seniors.

But the thing I saw more than anything in the last nine months was myself grow into who I was always been meant to be.

I thank every middle school student, the obedient and the challenging, who was with me day in and day out and put up with me learning along with them.

I thank every high school student who welcomed me into their drama and debate family and made me feel loved and appreciated with every hug, I love you, and invitation to watch them perform.

I thank the parents for letting me teach and love their kids day in and day out and for believing in our school district.

I thank the high school coaches for listening when a little voice said my name and taking a chance on me.

I thank the administration for taking a chance even when I seemed like a far fetched idea.

And most of all I thank God for speeding up my five year plan into a two month plan.

I grew up with amazing teachers that cared about ME, both inside the classroom and outside. The kind of teachers that you could go to when you were having a bad day and they would listen to what was going on or would just let you hide out when you needed to. Classrooms that became more of a home than anything else. When I took this position I wanted to be that teacher. I felt that I owed it to the universe to pay that forward. I wanted to be the solace in the bad days and the cheerleader in the good. I honestly thought it would take a few years to establish that, but somehow it didn't. Loving these kids, even when they are less than lovable, has become one of my greatest joys. And getting to do that while teaching them about what I love the most is just, well, perfection.

Every compromise (less travel, less shows, less sleep) has been worth it. This has been the best year of my life and I cannot wait for next year. Only 87 days until year 2 starts!

PS
While on break I'm going to try to update this thing and write about the shows from the past two and a half years! I did update the lists if you've been wondering what all I've seen!