1. I wonder if any teacher gets to the end of the year, turns around, looks back on what they've accomplished, and says, "Wow, I did everything I planned on doing!" Instead, what I feel like asking is, "Wow, did I accomplish anything I wanted to?" Overall the year has been as successful as I probably could have hoped for, but that certainly doesn't mean I did everything I hoped to. There are still those students in Algebra that are unprepared for 9th grade and those students in Science that haven't developed a passion for the subject yet. There are still those project ideas that I didn't get to and those activities I never did. There are still people - faculty and students - that I never got to know outside of the classroom or never had a 1-on-1 chat with. I guess that is what next year is for...
2. Finding a job is sort of hard. Last year when I was searching for a job, I stumbled upon Chinquapin and it has worked out wonderfully. I've really enjoyed my year, and while it has been exhausting at times, in retrospect I think I've grown a lot. This year I thought I was going to, once again, serendipitously find a job that I loved and everything would work out swimmingly... Not so fast. After applying to nearly 40 positions, interviewing on the phone with a bunch, interviewing in person with a handful, and constantly having my hopes dashed and revived, I've discovered what most adults probably already know - 'good jobs do not grow on trees'. While 'beggars cannot be choosers' I continue to be overly discerning during my search and remain optimistic that everything will work out. We'll see. If not, Mom and Dad, is my room still available?
3. For all of the college readers out there - the first year of life after college is whatever you make of it. I was afraid of leaving Williams and definitely have gotten nostalgic at times for the Purple Valley, but living on my own in a new city with new people doing something completely new has been... well... really new. What I loved about Williams was that there was a constant stream of stimuli always keeping you socially and intellectually engaged. If you constantly introduce new stimuli into your life after college, I think you'll find your first year to be incredibly rewarding - albeit difficult and tiring, but in the end, rewarding.
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