The Final Countdown

As of today, I will have been back home in Greenville, North Carolina for almost two weeks. The long and intensive summer training with Teach For America finally ended and I could not be happier or more relieved. This is the final countdown of the things that I have learned about myself, my profession, life in general, and others this summer...

10. Atlanta, Georgia is not the place that I want to be long term. It's actually funny because this city was my number one choice when it came down to the place I wanted to teach in the fall. God sure was looking out for ya girl when he decided that it's best I stay and make an impact on the Queen City.

9. Sleep is a lot more important to me than I ever knew it to be. I have gotten in literal arguments with people if they were not letting me sleep during my allotted time. Waking up at 4 a.m. every morning and going to sleep at 11 or 12 p.m. is not in the best interest of my sanity or mood.

8. My life of being extremely organized is going to come in handy with this profession. Lesson planning are two words that I have heard the most this summer. And if there is one thing that I can do, it's plan. Execution is another story on the other hand.

7. A small closet can generate a lot of different outfits. I am proud to say that I was never an outfit repeater throughout this entire process of institute. Somehow, someway I managed to mix and match my wardrobe to come up with brand new outfits every single day.

6. Teaching is HARD. Like harder than hard. Like the hardest task I could ever fathom doing. These children come to the table with a lot of different condiments. Sometimes these condiments taste good with what I'm serving, sometimes they don't. But it's my task to make them work, and that's a hell of a lot harder than it looks.

5. Kids are hilarious. They really are. They say and do the darndest things that shouldn't be funny but still make me chuckle every single time. From one of my fourth graders flipping off an entire fifth grade class to another one of my kids blatantly stating that it was time for me to get my braids redone. I just can't with them.

4. Teacher friends are my best friends. They are the only ones who actually laugh at the many stories I have about my children. They will engage in meaningful discourse surrounding Common Core. They will complain about data and help me solve some of the hardest problems facing my classroom.

3. But, it's still good to have non-teacher friends. These people are there to ground you and make you realize that no matter how much it may seem like it, this is not our entire lives. We have other things and other people to live for and it's important that we never forget that.

2. The world is a very hard and scary place to live in. You will see your students go through things that you have never imagined going through in your wildest dreams. Things that make you speechless and make you feel helpless. Things that make you lose faith in humanity.

1. But there are people out there like me who are fighting to make this world a better place. At the end of the day, there is definitely more good than bad. Although this work can be very daunting, there are little rays of sunshine that will appear when you need it most. Look for those, and you will never lose hope and your kids will benefit greatly from it.