Reflecting

[krikketgirl]

The school year has just drawn to a close, and it’s a good time for me to reflect on nine months that have challenged me on every level. Starting a full-time job for the first time is daunting—and when that first job includes hundreds of children, it sometimes seems completely overwhelming. I’ve learned a lot of things over the past several months, including the following:

•     Singing hath charms to soothe the savage beast, and also kindergarteners.
•      It’s possible to almost drown oneself with one large gulp from a half-empty coffee cup.
•      Everyone can see you cry in the library.
•      There really is nothing like connecting the right book with the right reader. Hearing, “Mrs. Rowland! That book you told me about is awesome!” makes any day suddenly bright.
•      Every chance encounter with a student that happens somewhere other than in the school is—to the student—extraordinary, and thus accompanied with gasps, whispers, and pointing. This will be followed up the next school day with shouts of, “I saw you!”
•      Overhead projectors are all exactly alike, except for one or two small anomalies that will make the unwary library clerk feel like she has three thumbs and no coordination.
•      Every successful copying episode makes me want to do a little victory dance and shout, “I won!” to the copy machine. This is probably immature of me.
•      Speaking of immature, one should never respond to the question, “What were you doing under there?” with, “Under where?”
•      And speaking of that, the single most hilarious thing one can say to someone in K-2 is the word ‘underwear.’ Or anything that sounds like the word ‘underwear.’ Or anything that doesn’t sound remotely like the word but makes the hearer—for reasons known only to them—think of the word ‘underwear.’
•      School libraries run on sticky notes, paperclips, rubber bands, and chocolate.

The single most important thing I’ve learned this year, though, is that I could not have dreamed up a better place to work. I was very uncertain about beginning this job last fall, having worked in the same place for so very long. Whether you are 13 or 32, it’s hard to start fresh in an unfamiliar place.

 From the beginning, though, every person at the school has made me feel welcome and appreciated. Whether it was the timely loan of whiteboards and markers, instruction on how to use a laminating machine, patience when class ran five minutes late, or a kind word, it seems as though there is no one who hasn’t played a part in making this the best first year ever. More, they each inspire me to do better, to try harder, and to do my part in making our school amazing.

I am so thankful for my job and for the incredible people I have met this year. I am looking forward to this fall!