10 years... How it all began
One of the questions I am asked the most is "How did you end up here?" Well... the short answer: God has a wicked sense of humor! The long answer takes a little more time...
It started one day when I was off work. You see, I had graduated from college 2 years earlier, and was looking for a teaching job. What they failed to tell all of us bright eyed young educators was that we weren't going to find jobs because all of the teachers that were expected to retire, would be extending their stay in education making all of the jobs that were supposed to be available, null and void. So, I would find an opening in a school, drive to the main office, drop off my resume', smile, talk, and try to get a feel for how many other applicants they had for the position. I remember one, where I had driven over an hour to drop off my resume' and the lady looked at it, put it in the pile and told me, you are applicant 400. I remember driving home with tears running down my face as I knew that for that one position, I wasn't even going to get a shot at it. I was devastated. I had worked so hard during school, eager to learn everything I could to go out and change the world, or at least one life. I remember praying on the way home that if I wasn't supposed to be a teacher, then I needed to be shown a different direction because this limbo thing stunk!
So, back to my day off....
After that day, I gave up on searching as diligently as I had been. I was a nanny, and decided that for now, it was good enough. Obviously, I wasn't supposed to teach, so in all honesty, why bother? Well, since I was living with my parents at the time, they didn't appreciate that attitude. My mom would ask me every day what I had done to look for a job. Most days, I said, I had to work and didn't have time to look, but on my days off... that was another story. I wasn't allowed to laze around the house in my pajamas all day and not be a productive member of society. So, I remember one morning in late April, early May where my mom and I got into a huge fight before she left for work. I stewed, and stomped around the house. How dare she say I am not doing anything with my life? How dare she say that I needed to look for a job? I KNEW I needed a job, didn't she see that?!?! Well, at that time, North Carolina, Nevada, and Colorado were in high need of teachers. I heard stories of tractor trailers being used as classrooms because there were more students than teachers or rooms. So, in a fit and out of spite, I got online. I researched those three states and found out where to send my resume' and how to apply for these jobs that were so desperately needed. I remember, regretfully now, that when my mom came home, and inevitably asked me what I had done that day, I gleefully said "I applied for jobs all over!" I truly thought that was the end of it. This is where God was shaking His head and saying "Wait my child... I have such plans for you" But I really didn't want to hear it. My mind was made up that I was going to teach in Ohio and that was that. Period. End of story. Those applications were just to shut my mom up (from my perspective, at least).
The next day, I was in for a HUGE surprise! I was checking my email before I went to work and there were 10 replies from different counties in North Carolina alone. I remember reading them and looking up at the ceiling and telling God, very distinctly, that I was joking. I didn't mean this. I went to work and thought about it the hour drive up and the hour drive back home. Thankfully, the two little boys that I was in charge of were very active and kept my mind off of it. I talked to my parents about it in length, and decided that it wouldn't hurt to look into these requests. I started researching the counties that these responses were in. Coastal, Mountains, Piedmont.... I learned A LOT about North Carolina geography. I also talked to my cousin and his wife as they were living in the Raleigh area and she had grown up in North Carolina. I narrowed it down and found out there was a job fair. So, I got in my car, drove down, went to the job fair, which was for Title 1 schools. We toured several of the schools and one I remember thinking, "I could teach here". After the tour, we met with each of the principals and interviewed right there on the spot. There were two that I remember thinking, OK, I could do this... Looking back, I believe that was all the Holy Spirit being my Comforter...
I was spending the night with my cousin and his wife, so I was in the parking lot, talking to them and letting them know I was leaving and would be there in a couple of hours. I had just hung up the phone and was about to drive when my phone rang again. I had no idea who it was and answered with a little trepidation. It was almost as if I knew that in that moment, my life would never be the same again. Wouldn't you know that it was one of the principals (later to connect it with the school where I thought "I could teach here") saying she had a first grade position, was interested in me, and did I want it yes or no. I believe that very gracefully, my response was "Ummm", she repeated it again and said I need to know. You are my first choice, but if you don't want it, let me know because she was going to offer it to someone else. Well, that kicked me in the rear, and so I said "Yes, yes I do want it." She then said words that haunted me for the entire trip back to my cousin's house and then all the way back home. "Good, school starts in 6 weeks and I need you here the 27th for training". So, there I was... 27, with my first "real" job that was 500 miles away from where I thought I would be. As I said earlier... God has a wicked sense of humor! Just how big of one, well, that is the next step in this strange journey I found myself in 10 years ago.
It started one day when I was off work. You see, I had graduated from college 2 years earlier, and was looking for a teaching job. What they failed to tell all of us bright eyed young educators was that we weren't going to find jobs because all of the teachers that were expected to retire, would be extending their stay in education making all of the jobs that were supposed to be available, null and void. So, I would find an opening in a school, drive to the main office, drop off my resume', smile, talk, and try to get a feel for how many other applicants they had for the position. I remember one, where I had driven over an hour to drop off my resume' and the lady looked at it, put it in the pile and told me, you are applicant 400. I remember driving home with tears running down my face as I knew that for that one position, I wasn't even going to get a shot at it. I was devastated. I had worked so hard during school, eager to learn everything I could to go out and change the world, or at least one life. I remember praying on the way home that if I wasn't supposed to be a teacher, then I needed to be shown a different direction because this limbo thing stunk!
So, back to my day off....
After that day, I gave up on searching as diligently as I had been. I was a nanny, and decided that for now, it was good enough. Obviously, I wasn't supposed to teach, so in all honesty, why bother? Well, since I was living with my parents at the time, they didn't appreciate that attitude. My mom would ask me every day what I had done to look for a job. Most days, I said, I had to work and didn't have time to look, but on my days off... that was another story. I wasn't allowed to laze around the house in my pajamas all day and not be a productive member of society. So, I remember one morning in late April, early May where my mom and I got into a huge fight before she left for work. I stewed, and stomped around the house. How dare she say I am not doing anything with my life? How dare she say that I needed to look for a job? I KNEW I needed a job, didn't she see that?!?! Well, at that time, North Carolina, Nevada, and Colorado were in high need of teachers. I heard stories of tractor trailers being used as classrooms because there were more students than teachers or rooms. So, in a fit and out of spite, I got online. I researched those three states and found out where to send my resume' and how to apply for these jobs that were so desperately needed. I remember, regretfully now, that when my mom came home, and inevitably asked me what I had done that day, I gleefully said "I applied for jobs all over!" I truly thought that was the end of it. This is where God was shaking His head and saying "Wait my child... I have such plans for you" But I really didn't want to hear it. My mind was made up that I was going to teach in Ohio and that was that. Period. End of story. Those applications were just to shut my mom up (from my perspective, at least).
The next day, I was in for a HUGE surprise! I was checking my email before I went to work and there were 10 replies from different counties in North Carolina alone. I remember reading them and looking up at the ceiling and telling God, very distinctly, that I was joking. I didn't mean this. I went to work and thought about it the hour drive up and the hour drive back home. Thankfully, the two little boys that I was in charge of were very active and kept my mind off of it. I talked to my parents about it in length, and decided that it wouldn't hurt to look into these requests. I started researching the counties that these responses were in. Coastal, Mountains, Piedmont.... I learned A LOT about North Carolina geography. I also talked to my cousin and his wife as they were living in the Raleigh area and she had grown up in North Carolina. I narrowed it down and found out there was a job fair. So, I got in my car, drove down, went to the job fair, which was for Title 1 schools. We toured several of the schools and one I remember thinking, "I could teach here". After the tour, we met with each of the principals and interviewed right there on the spot. There were two that I remember thinking, OK, I could do this... Looking back, I believe that was all the Holy Spirit being my Comforter...
I was spending the night with my cousin and his wife, so I was in the parking lot, talking to them and letting them know I was leaving and would be there in a couple of hours. I had just hung up the phone and was about to drive when my phone rang again. I had no idea who it was and answered with a little trepidation. It was almost as if I knew that in that moment, my life would never be the same again. Wouldn't you know that it was one of the principals (later to connect it with the school where I thought "I could teach here") saying she had a first grade position, was interested in me, and did I want it yes or no. I believe that very gracefully, my response was "Ummm", she repeated it again and said I need to know. You are my first choice, but if you don't want it, let me know because she was going to offer it to someone else. Well, that kicked me in the rear, and so I said "Yes, yes I do want it." She then said words that haunted me for the entire trip back to my cousin's house and then all the way back home. "Good, school starts in 6 weeks and I need you here the 27th for training". So, there I was... 27, with my first "real" job that was 500 miles away from where I thought I would be. As I said earlier... God has a wicked sense of humor! Just how big of one, well, that is the next step in this strange journey I found myself in 10 years ago.
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