Spring Break

The words "spring break" have been in my vocabulary for quite some time now, but never had the implications that they hold now that I am a first year teacher.  It seems silly to be using my last few moments of spring break to write about it, but I can't seem to ignore the significance of this past week.

To give you an idea of how my week was spent, quality time was had with my closest friends and family first at home, and then for a few days in New Orleans.  I was able to relax for the first time in months and I even picked up a book to read for pleasure (if you haven't met Katniss and Peeta yet, I would get started).  You'd be surprised how many times I think to myself, "If my kids only knew how little I read, they would completely shut out my pleas for them to keep reading."

Regardless of how I spent my spring break, though, I cannot ignore the milestone it is for me: a first year teacher. I have survived.  I have made it to spring break. Two months stand between me and a year of teaching under my belt.  Myself and all of the other first-year teachers have weathered many storms: storms for which we at first lacked and then acquired the proper gear.  We have made little differences, but differences enough to keep us going.  Most importantly, we will return to our jobs tomorrow, because our rejuvenated spirits allow us to do so.  

To say I needed spring break would be an understatement.  This milestone had me thinking back to the very beginning of my "teaching career."  Between finding out about my acceptance into TFA and teaching at Camden's Promise, there was Institute.  Institute, which I described as "teacher boot camp," served as a snapshot into the planning, process, politics, and even the pressure of being a teacher.  As if the training wasn't hard enough, I lost my grandmother at the end of the first week.  I remember thinking that the stress was just too much, that I wasn't strong enough to grieve and learn so much at the same time, and that I wanted to quit, or at least defer.  I even made that decision a few times, but it only lasted temporarily.  With the help of those around me at the time, the knowledge of the fact that my grandmom would want me to see it through, and a little spark of the reason why I joined TFA in the first place still in me, I made it through Institute and now -- I've made it through almost a full year of teaching.

Spring break.  I We have made it past spring break of my first year of teaching.