So, while we were on our vacation in the hills above Santa Barbara... I got a message from my Mom. Hand delivered by the front gate guard on his golf cart. He said that I needed to call her, it was urgent. As my face blanched white, he smiled and said, "She said that you would worry, so I should tell you that it is good news." The first thought that flashed through my mind was, "Hmm, my mom had her tubes tied, so it can't be that." I almost immediately knew what she was calling about, even though it was a million miles from my radar.
I scrounged up the money I would need to use the pay phone down at the country store and called. (We were in a beautiful area with zero cel service...blessing...yes... strange, also yes) When I got a hold of my mom we had the worst connection imaginable, but she told me that the Director of Broadoaks had been trying to reach me because she wanted to offer me a position at the school. I don't know how I knew that this was the news, somehow I have the strangest ESP. It only works for pregnancy announcements and gifts, but occasionally for things like this!
I had applied for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship position at Broadoaks for last school year and was told that there just weren't any openings at the time. This was very disappointing, but I just figured that the Universe had something else in store for me. I did beat myself up a bit because the year before, the Director had encouraged me to apply and was really pushing me (indicating that I would most likely be brought on board). Ella would have only been 2 1/2 and I was really just not ready to start working full time and go back to school, so I waited. Then, there was nothing available. This year, something opened up and they found themselves with an open position, just for me!
A fellowship is like a paid internship and are only granted to a few students each year. You must be enrolled in the Masters program at Whittier and go through an application process. They had held onto my application and pushed for me to get a spot for the coming school year. I told my Mom to let the Director know that I would call her the next day at 12 noon to have a conversation. (I knew that I would have cel service where we were going the next day) I called and we talked and indeed, she offered me the spot. She told me all of the pro's and con's and explained more about what I would be doing. The benefits are: Working at an incredible school with amazing people, a small paycheck, tuition remission for myself and for Ella. I get retirement and health benefits too and I think, after a year, I get one free meal a week at the cafeteria. But, this is when I found out about two difficult elements of the position. The first is that I would not be able to complete my student teaching during the fall semester, but they would try to work it out so that I could do it in the spring. The second is that I would be teaching pre-school. Not only preschool, but the LITTLEST kids, because Ella is in the Pre-K class, it would mean that I would go to the class with the 2 1/2 - 3 year olds. Really? Really? Didn't I JUST finish with this at home? Wasn't I just saying how glad I was to be done with the whining and the pee pee pants and the boogers!? Wasn't I just saying how this is NOT my favorite age!? I told the Director that I would think about all that we had discussed and that I would call her back in two days to tell her my final decision. I really knew what my answer would be, but I wanted some time to process all of this! When I called back, she was delighted to find that I was accepting and I figured that the Universe must know something that I didn't and besides, I am never one to pass up an Opportunity when it falls right into my lap.
This news really shook me up! I had a plan and it was being completely overhauled.. I DON'T like to change my plans!
Original plan: Student teach in the Fall and not work at the church for the semester. Spring would see me working one or two days a week and writing my thesis while both children were in school. I would graduate in the Spring followed by working part time during the Summer and hopefully finding a full time teaching job for the next year.
NEW plan: Work full time NOW, write thesis NOW and HOPE that I can student teach in the Spring. Graduation in the Spring (with or without my credential) followed by maybe working at Broadoaks over the Summer and back with them full time next year.
With the original plan, I would have had two full weeks when the kids were back at school and before I started student teaching, allowing me some much needed time to work on projects around the house. With the new plan it meant coming home from vacation, unpacking and spending the next week scrambling to get myself ready to begin working full time! I had to do a lot of leg work at the college, filling out paperwork, changing my financial aid, dropping and adding classes... eek! It was crazy! I also had to arrange for child care because Andy and I started two weeks before the kids!
Well, we worked it out and went a little nutty, but here we are. I am now working full time and knee deep in research for my thesis. Thankfully, I thought about a topic all summer and even had a tentative outline in my head. I am looking at Gifted and Talented Education (or the lack of it) and finding lots of great information! There is a LOT to do and not much time to do it! Adjusting to a new work environment and schedule is extremely taxing, not to mention that my students hit, bite, pee their pants and haven't learned how to share!
Andy is working his buns off to keep things running smoothly around here and we are just going to hang on by the skin of our teeth until Christmas. My thesis will be done by then, and I am sure that we will be much more well adjusted to the schedule. I greatly appreciate Fridays and the time that I get to spend with my family during the weekend and I have found myself longing for the time to dust baseboards. The things that used to seem like drudgery, I now look at as something that I miss. Strange the way it works... I have on my pack again and continue to climb. I have requested prayers and accepted lots of help. This life of mine, well, it is quite a journey and let me tell you, the view from up here... it is incredible!
We are still waiting on our Praying Mantis egg case to hatch, it may be a dud... but we are waiting! They will have to go on vacation with us (I am not thrilled) but the company has reassured us that they will send us a new one if nothing happens with this one.