Day 7 - My Job

(one of the projects we do for writing - coming up with better verbs that express more feeling.)


I'm just about to start my 7th year teaching 7th grade. and i'm still alive - haha. :)

i graduated college in 2002 with a communication degree. i was bartending at the time and continued to do so until my untimely firing (bartenders should be ALLOWED to be rude to assholes, by the way) about 6 months later. i originally wanted to be a communication consultant at a big company, but as it turns out, that's pretty much impossible for a young, 20ish female.
so i was jobless for about a month until i got the. worst. job. on the planet!!! -Manager of the Juniors Dept. at Dillards Deparment store. the third ring of hell as far as i'm concerned. i worked there for a year making the most ridiculous salary known to man, but i met a girl whom i became friends with. she had gone to college too and was in sort of the same situation as me. she told me about how her friend had graduated with a biology degree and couldn't find a job, so she became a science teacher.
a teacher without a teaching degree? is that possible? why yes, yes it is. you have to take a 'subject area exam'. if you pass, they consider you qualified to teach that subject. "interesting," i thought. so i looked into it and as it turned out, with my degree, i had enough credits to teach english. so i took the exam and passed. i decided to become a substitute teacher to see how i liked it, then at night, i got a job bartending close to my apartment. my first day as a sub, i got called to a middle school down the street. i got there and they didn't need me! arg! BUT, they said i was needed at the OTHER middle school closer to where i lived, so i went there. i LOVED it. 13 year-old kids are hilarious when a sub is in. like i'm an idiot! that age is great, because they get sarcasm. so i was funny, but we still got work done. turns out, the teachers liked me, so i was pretty much there everyday. then i was hired as a "permanent sub" for the school for the last semester. i knew there was an opening for english coming in the fall, so i put the word out that i really wanted it. i pestered the principal for the rest of the year and then once a week all summer until finally, she said, "fine! go to training and i'll see you in a week!" i got a job! woohoooo!!! not only a job, but a career!!! check me out!
once hired, i had a temporary certificate for 3 years. in that time, i had to complete courses to satisfy education certification. there were 5 college classes that i got done in my first year.
i've been teaching at the same middle school i started subbing in 8 years ago! i love being around kids that age all the time. they are so dramatic, fun, and still mostly child-like. 13 is a weird age, but it's that age where they're either still wearing glasses, braces, and carrying a book - OR - skinny jeans with a cell in the back pocket and eye shadow caked on haphazardly. it's fun to see everyday. and i'm pretty good at it. kids learn stuff. haha.