- It beats the hell out of Barnes & Noble, the final resting place for underemployed English majors.
- The health benefits are usually amazing compared to most jobs I've had. Most places don't cover anti-allergy drugs because we can get Claritin over the counter. FUCK Claritin! It's barely more effective than a placebo, and most work places (including classrooms) are a pit of mold that kills my allergies.
- Someone needs to protect / guide the class nerds and outcasts. Who better than someone who was driven to a nervous breakdown in 10th grade and then bounced back?
- June, July, August. Ah, three months of dreading the first day back in the classroom.
- Finally, a reason to show off my memorization of the opening of Canterbury Tales in Middle English other than to mess with the heads of drunks at parties.
- Finally, a reason to declare my collection of Simpsons DVDs as a tax writeoff. Show The Raven or Streetcar Named Desire just once, collect my return later.
- I'm genetically programmed to suck at everything else.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Alternate answers
Why DO I want to be a teacher, anyway?
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Small, Medium or Large?
Columbus is a medium sized city. This is something I have to keep in mind while dealing with other people and with situations. Twice this week I've talked to someone, in both cases fellow transplants to the area, who referred to this place as "the Big City" with such reverence that I thought we had landed in Oz.
"Folks, I came here from Philly... yes, the place with the steaks. Yes, I do know how to order correctly from Pat's, but my point is that this really isn't THAT big of a metropolis. If I was able to find a parking spot within two blocks of where I had to go, this isn't a big city."
On the other hand, I did just move here from a very small town outside of Philadelphia. Jenkintown has a gazebo in Town Square where they have ice cream socials and free concerts. There were a few arrests in the area, but most of them were for drunken driving or unruly behavior. Yes, the Big City entered on occasion, like the time an escaped prisoner was pinned down at gunpoint under my window, but for the main part the only noise was the Irish folk dancing classes across the street. MAN, those people can stomp!
That was the town I missed this weekend when I found out my left rear tire had been punctured with either an ice pick or a screwdriver. Jenkintown doesn't have good and bad neighborhoods because it's too small. Columbus has bad neighborhoods, and I laughed at the idea that they could be worse than North Philly. They aren't, but the kids here are just as bored as they are there.
Welcome to life in the City, I suppose!
"Folks, I came here from Philly... yes, the place with the steaks. Yes, I do know how to order correctly from Pat's, but my point is that this really isn't THAT big of a metropolis. If I was able to find a parking spot within two blocks of where I had to go, this isn't a big city."
On the other hand, I did just move here from a very small town outside of Philadelphia. Jenkintown has a gazebo in Town Square where they have ice cream socials and free concerts. There were a few arrests in the area, but most of them were for drunken driving or unruly behavior. Yes, the Big City entered on occasion, like the time an escaped prisoner was pinned down at gunpoint under my window, but for the main part the only noise was the Irish folk dancing classes across the street. MAN, those people can stomp!
That was the town I missed this weekend when I found out my left rear tire had been punctured with either an ice pick or a screwdriver. Jenkintown doesn't have good and bad neighborhoods because it's too small. Columbus has bad neighborhoods, and I laughed at the idea that they could be worse than North Philly. They aren't, but the kids here are just as bored as they are there.
Welcome to life in the City, I suppose!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
REAP Question #1
What are your three (3) most important reasons for wanting to be a teacher?
1) When I was fifteen years old, an adult with whom I was close charged me to "save the world one person at a time." This thought has been with me for years. To date, working with students at the age I was at that time is the best way I can fathom fulfilling this charge.
2) My parents have provided the perfect examples of why education is the most fulfilling career imaginable. Both of them teach at my former high school, and they seem happiest when in the classroom. They have supported me in every way in my work to join their ranks.
3) After more than ten years out of college and in the private sector, there was no perfect match. After three months of student teaching, I now know there is no place that I will find a greater match for my skills. There is no other place where I am more at home than looking into the faces of my students.
1) When I was fifteen years old, an adult with whom I was close charged me to "save the world one person at a time." This thought has been with me for years. To date, working with students at the age I was at that time is the best way I can fathom fulfilling this charge.
2) My parents have provided the perfect examples of why education is the most fulfilling career imaginable. Both of them teach at my former high school, and they seem happiest when in the classroom. They have supported me in every way in my work to join their ranks.
3) After more than ten years out of college and in the private sector, there was no perfect match. After three months of student teaching, I now know there is no place that I will find a greater match for my skills. There is no other place where I am more at home than looking into the faces of my students.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Happy Monthiversary!
Here we go...
Today is two months since I packed up my apartment in suburban Philadelphia and began the move out to Columbus, Ohio. I'd been working on this move for what seems like years, since Pros and I first decided that our relationship needed to be more than a long-distance occasional fling. I wish I could say it's always been easy. I'm finding myself in the terrifying position of being almost totally reliant on one person for everything from shelter to daily contact. Pros is the person I'm supposed to be with, and I'm so glad I'm here, but BOY, is this transition a bitch!
Luckily, Lynx (one of my pre-existing Ohio friends) has been good enough to bring me into the Blogger Circle. It makes me feel a lot better that I have someone to talk to, even if it's a group of anonymous readers. Please be patient with me if you stumble into my words. I'll try to make the story more distinct as I put it into better perspective while moving forward in my new life here in Ohio.
Hope the journey is fun for all!
Today is two months since I packed up my apartment in suburban Philadelphia and began the move out to Columbus, Ohio. I'd been working on this move for what seems like years, since Pros and I first decided that our relationship needed to be more than a long-distance occasional fling. I wish I could say it's always been easy. I'm finding myself in the terrifying position of being almost totally reliant on one person for everything from shelter to daily contact. Pros is the person I'm supposed to be with, and I'm so glad I'm here, but BOY, is this transition a bitch!
Luckily, Lynx (one of my pre-existing Ohio friends) has been good enough to bring me into the Blogger Circle. It makes me feel a lot better that I have someone to talk to, even if it's a group of anonymous readers. Please be patient with me if you stumble into my words. I'll try to make the story more distinct as I put it into better perspective while moving forward in my new life here in Ohio.
Hope the journey is fun for all!
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