Sunday, June 9, 2013

Changes

{Seven hells! Has this year flown by so quickly?}
That's right; I'm down to my final 30 research papers of the year, the kids have two more half days left, and I'm running full-tilt toward the end of the year (encumbered only by the aforementioned research papers, four sets of final exam essays, some tallying of component scores for the finals, my final grade uploading/posting, and then the pesky matter of cleaning all of my -- and the teacher's for whom I'm long-term-subbing -- stuff out of the classroom).

It's so close I can taste it. Or maybe that's just the bitter aftertaste of the gallons of coffee I've been chugging to complete said checklist...?

Surprisingly enough, the arrival of summer is actually not the most exciting thing on my horizon. In a little under a month, I will be moving across the United States to join my boyfriend/partner/best friend Jeffrey in L.A., where he's been working for the past month at his shiny new job. This was a decision we labored over for a long time. After much soul-searching -- and, honestly, a bit of grief -- we landed in a place where this actually made a lot of sense to us (though my mom would say, "Where? Delusion Town?" Not everyone is as pleased as we are). After we pulled the trigger and I began to adjust to our decision, I've been gradually growing more and more excited for the move. Visiting Jeff out in L.A. a few weeks ago really validated that anticipation and acceptance; and I am so thrilled to be embarking on this new adventure!

I know this month will be a blur as I try to get everything sorted out. For now, I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone and chugging through my end-of-year workload with as much focus and diligence as I can. Even though my current group of kids is my fourth(!) this year and I've only had them for a few months, I do feel like we were able to connect and make some significant academic strides in that short time period. As much as I want to rush into this new chapter of my life, I believe that it's important to slow down and take my time with wrapping up the end of this current chapter. I've learned a tremendous amount about kids, pedagogy, the education system, classroom management, time management, keeping zen in the face of hormonal rampages (no, really, this is a thing!), and myself as a teacher and learner in this past, crazy year. I'm so fortunate to have had largely positive experiences throughout this time; and even just the fact that, despite not having a full-year contract position, I have not been unemployed for a single day this year is a great blessing in itself! Regardless of where my future path will take me, I'm certain that I will carry these experiences with me in a meaningful way.

One thing I can't wait to no longer have to carry, though, is the burden of these ungraded research papers! And so, I'm off for now and keeping my fingers crossed that at least a few students picked interesting social issues to write about (so far, my favorites have definitely been "pirates" and "serial killers"). =)

{Will the West Coast prove to be the BEST coast? Incidentally, this poster is from this band. I sadly am not familiar, but their poster is a-freakin'-adorable enough that I will probably have to check them out.}