My Life's About to Change

Well... I have been insanely busy, hence the lack of posts in May.

Recent news: I got back from Hungary, graduated from Grace College two weeks later, moved home, and 8 days later I got a job.

A real, grown up job.

I'm going to be a 4th grade teacher.

Seeing that sentence ^ makes me ridiculously excited, humbled, scared, honored, thrilled, and anxious all at once.

Yesterday, I visited my school.

I walked the hallways, met some teachers, and inhaled the "school smell" that every elementary school I have ever been in smells like... even the one in Hungary.

And then. We turned the corner. And I stood in the doorway to my classroom. A fairly big room, gray carpeting, not nearly as many desks as it's going to have... half chalkboard, half whiteboard, tons of cupboards and shelves... but it's mine.

I had a quick flashback to those long summer days the week before school starts... sunkissed days of sprinkler-jumping, barefoot-biking down the sidewalk, ice cream shop walks, firefly-catching in the tall grass. And then the realization that summer is almost over... and school anxiety begins to hit. What will next year be like? Will I like my teacher? What will my classroom be like?

And so my mom would take me in to school while teachers were unpacking boxes, setting up their classrooms in shorts and t-shirts... so unlike how I'd see them the next week. I would smell that summer-freedom school smell... the muggy air, and hear the fans blowing. And I would turn the corner. And stand in the doorway to my classroom... peering around the desks, looking for my nametag, smiling shyly at my teacher while my mom talked with her.

But now, I'm that teacher. That has boxes to unpack. And shelves to supply. And name-tags to make, and kids to love.

I've always loved school. I am beyond excited to devote the next years of my life to helping others love school too. To love learning.

It's a huge responsibility. I am humbled. so humbled. SO EXCITED.

I want to thank those who have instilled in me a love of learning from the beginning. A deep love, a deep passion for seeking truth, for understanding, for creating, for writing, for music (which is in a sense, one of the main reasons I got my job... but that's another story).

Thank you for setting me out on this journey... and giving me opportunities to fulfill the dream I had as a sixth grade girl... who loved school, loved learning, loved teaching, and loved kids.