The New Job

A bunch of people have asked me the following 2 questions lately:

1. Are you glad you took your new job? The answer is an unequivocal and emphatic, "Yes!"

2. Are you glad to be out of the classroom? That question is much harder to answer.

There are pros and cons to being out of the classroom. I love having the freedom to plan my day without worrying about who is going to cover my class. I miss the close relationships you get with kids in a classroom. I love going to many different centers in any given day. I miss the fun you have with a class full of kids. I love the wide variety of people I've met in my experiences so far at the new place. (I was just telling Dan the other day that I haven't met this many really cool people since my Camp Buckskin days.) I really really miss the close knit group of people I worked with for the past 10 years. They really were (probably still are) my second family. I love that now I am able to have an influence on the education of so many kids...literally hundreds. I miss having the daily influence on that one child who comes back in 6 years and tells you they finished school because of your teaching.

In short, I am not thrilled to be out of the classroom, but I AM thrilled with my new job. It is stressful and crazy and discombobulated and scary and unknown and exciting and challenging and fun and educational and really it's what I've always wanted to do. I feel so lucky to have this job that sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not just dreaming.