Gone and done it

After much thought . . . I did it.

Became a teacher in Florida that is.

Well, not officially.

Officially, I am waiting for the paperwork to come back to say that the state of Florida has deemed me worthy to teach in their state.

Not that I think I will ever teach in their state mind you.

I really don't plan on teaching ever again.

Don't get me wrong. I liked teaching. Somewhat. I liked coaching better. Teaching is hard. People think teachers have the life. Done at 3:00. Summers off. Lots of holidays. But it is an incredibly stressful profession. Honestly, when I think about standing up in front of a room of thirty seventeen year olds again, it gives me a stomachache. I seriously think I might throw up. How did I do that for all five years? I'm really not sure.

One of the final straws . . . one of the last things that happened before I resigned my position was a football player who got mad that I failed him. (I won't go into the fact that I had passed him the previous semester, against my better judgment, with the understanding that he wouldn't wait until the twelvth hour next time.) "I'll let you make up the work this time," I had said. "But next semester, I won't. You'll be out of luck." Okay Coach K. Got it. I promise. No biggie. Second semester, same old thing. When he got upset that I was going to fail him and not let him make up all the work ten minutes before grades were due, I stood in the back of the room after class with him to explain why I wouldn't be allowing him the same grace. He looked at me in the eye (he was tall) and said, "Are you done?"

It's a good thing JB wasn't there in person when the kid said that.

A few weeks later, I resigned. I wasn't paid enough for that sort of disrespect. I could make the same money sitting in office somewhere answering phones. (Which is subsequently why I applied for a job as a receptionist at the RLS Foundation. They couldn't understand why I had, when I had a Bachelor's Degree. They decided to offer me a position that fit me more. I didn't care what I did as long as I wasn't stressed out.)

Oh, another sidenote. I should tell you that ninety percent of my students were great. Really. They were. It was the ten percent however that just wears a teacher out. It was the ten percent that forced me resign.

But back to the teaching license thing.

The teaching license is a precarious thing. Don't use it and you lose it. First I had one in Kentucky. I used that one to get one in Minnesota. Kentucky license has now expired. Minnesota gave me a one year license. Two big tests and one class on accepting the Native American culture later, I had a five year license from Minnesota. But before I could use it, I quit.

Now, the five year license in Minnesota expires this month. Want to renew it? Take three college classes and a huge test and do some other stuff too. No can do. No want to do. No sir'ee Bob. No way Hosea.

You get the idea.

So, instead, I decided to become a teacher in my new state (which is actually my old state but that is neither here nor there). My Florida state. I sent in money. (Is anyone surprised that they charge money to tell you whether your application is good enough?) I sent in my Minnesota license. I sent in my official college transcript. I sent in a birth certificate.

I debated not doing it. Like I said, I don't plan on teaching ever again. But the thing is, if you let your license expire, it is impossible to get it back. Okay, not entirely. But you might as well go back to college and start from scratch again. It is seriously almost that much work.

So instead, I think I bought myself a little bit of time. Not sure how long the new certificate will be good for. Might be a year. Might be longer. But teaching is my profession. If I ever did need to return to the work force, getting a job as a writer (like I had) isn't easy.

So I did it. I'm staying a teacher.

For now.

Or at least I think I am. Still waiting for Florida to say I'm good enough to join their state. We'll see what they say.

Either way, I did it. I didn't throw away my my four year degree.

Not yet anyways.