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| An example of comfort--This is Sweet Pea in my operatory at work. She is on her owner's lap waiting for the dentist to come in to do the exam. She was clearly in her comfort zone here (she had been sitting patiently on her owner's walker/chair). She is a service dog...yes, you read that right. |
Everyone who knows my family of three (me, Ray and Carly) know that we like to do things that make sense. We tend to do things that we are used to and where we will know the likeable outcome. From the first time Ray and I mentioned our retiring to Panama last February, there was always a bit of cricket-like silence. Until we leave Virginia for Panama, I am certain there is doubt in everyone's mine (including ours) that Ray and I can proceed outside our comfort zone. We'll see about this. Then, this past week I saw that Carly is trying to mix things up a bit, too.
For the past year, Carly has been student teaching at an elementary school that has Kindergarten to fifth grade. She has been teaching third graders reading, writing and arithmetic (and oh so much more!). Last week she set out for two interviews. In Fairfax County, Virginia, the elementary schools house sixth graders as well. Her first interview was at a school that was not the originally intended school where she meant to send her resume (it had been a long, busy, but fun-filled last week of college). The second word View was mixed up with Hill in the name of the school, and she found herself answering the questions from a panel of four (Principal, two teachers and and instructional coordinator) at a school she had had no interest in working at (she didn't love the location, the website of the school was lacking, and the ratings weren't up to par). It was also a school she knew nothing about (she couldn't grasp anything from its website or the reviews). She had prepped herself for the other one. Fortunately, the mistake was discovered before she drove west instead of north, and she had a chance to prep for the interview. She walked away not knowing what grade she would teach if offered a job there, she did say it wasn't such a bad place after all. She didn't love the area, but she loved the people she had met and had a great interview.
Her second interview was at a school that she did have on her list, and the email was sent correctly. The Principal received her resume and called her to interview for a fifth or sixth grade teaching position. Fifth grade appealed to her, but not so much sixth. She would go because she liked the location of the school, the website was wonderful, and the ratings were pretty good. This time she interviewed with two six grade teachers and the Principal. She walked away from this interview loving the school and those that she had met. She had a wonderful feeling, and she told her dad she really liked everything she saw once there. She would work at this school if given the chance, but let's hope it would be for fifth grade. Shortly after her interview, the email came for references, and after the holiday, the call came with a job offer--for six grade. An email was sent to the teacher that mentored her last year and taught her how to teach the third graders (and how to teach in general), an email was sent to the Principal that offered her the job, a phone call between Carly and the Principal occurred, and they discussed my daughter's concerns. And then she stepped out of her comfort zone and accepted the job. Her concerns were "what if I have another interview and it's for third or fourth grade, but at a school I don't love?, what if there aren't more interviews to follow soon, what if I love the school but don't get great feelings from the Principal, and how will I know that I don't like teaching upper elementary grades unless I try teaching them first?"
I couldn't be any more proud of my daughter for taking this big step. Teaching the big kids of the school. And I, too, am nervous for her. I want her to start her career loving what she is doing and being enthusiastic from the get-go. No, these kids won't be coloring or sitting on the floor as much, but they will be doing higher levels of math (her passion), and she will have more time to focus on the content of the subject (well, as much time as teachers get these days with all the other stuff they are expected to do in a day!). But if she doesn't love it, she's not to feel committed to this grade. There are not only other positions that can pop up yearly at this school, but there are 140 other elementary schools in the county. So just like I hope this big move is the right one for her, challenges her, enlightens her and fills her days with excitement, I hope our big move to Panama does the exact for me.
Once Carly returns from a music festival at VA Beach, and we return from the lake house, we are apartment hunting. Another step in the right direction of the "letting go process". It's the right time for her to fly, it's a way of life, and she knows we will always be there for her wherever we may settle.
On another note, it has been ninety plus degrees in VA for the past three days (after having a sunny but chilly Memorial Day weekend--the nights were chilly, the days were gorgeous but not swimming weather!). I am sitting on our screened in porch at Lake Anna listening to the cicadas sing, the birds chirp (one persistent one) and when I look up and out at the water, I see the cicadas trying to get at me through the screens. Okay, my imagination...you tell me :)
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| This is one...he has friends. Lots of friends. |
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