Emergent Things

I haven’t blogged in a long time. Probably because I haven’t taught in a long time. I’ve put off writing this post for a while, as it seems to put finality to a career that ended almost as abruptly as it took off, but having settled into my new job and taken ownership over my new life, I’ve accepted what is undoubtedly true.

I am no longer a teacher.

I know I haven’t aspired much in terms of promoting my blog, but it's served as a brief record of my experience as a teacher and is thus important to me as I move forward with another portion of my life. I didn’t quit teaching because I dislike kids or because of the long hours of politics or whatever reasons teachers finally quit. I quit because I didn’t want to give myself to the profession any longer. And while that sounds selfish and probably is, I didn’t want to spend any more time in public education if my heart wasn’t in it. It wasn’t fair to me, and, more importantly, it wasn’t fair to the kids.

Upon reflecting on my short teaching career, I discovered a number of takeaways. Despite this, I only want to share one, and that is that whenever you find something wonderful, hold onto it. Cliché, yes, and even corny, but while I wasn’t a teacher long, I had the privilege of spending most of my time at a very powerful school with wonderful colleagues, dedicated leadership, and some of the most creative, intelligent, and understanding kids I ever had the pleasure of working with. And while there were rough spots in my tenure there, I look back on it with a great deal of respect, longing, and admiration, and I am counting the days until I return to Indianapolis to watch the kids I taught for three years graduate.

Louisville, and life, however, became priority. It’s easy to look back on my teaching career and miss my kids, but I think it’s worth celebrating the things I have moved on to. Upon leaving my teaching job, I accepted a position with a local foster care agency as Manager of Staff Training & Development. It’s easy to think of the jump to corporate training as a cold one, but  I couldn’t be more blessed to have found a home at an organization that is committed to assisting the youth of Kentucky and making the community the strongest it can be.

In addition, switching careers has given me the time I need to return to the person I want to be. I’ve been able to strengthen my skating and my overall success as a hockey player. I’m also training for my first mini-marathon and feeling the best I have in a long time. I eat better, have more energy, and have been able to devote myself to finishing my master's degree, reading good books, surrounding myself with great people in an even greater city, and bettering my home with my wife. 

In retrospect, I have no qualms with teaching, the schools at which I worked, or the field as a whole. I count myself blessed to have had the opportunity to work with the teachers and students I did. At the end of the day, however, I didn't feel as committed as I should have been. Perhaps I never was. I'm not certain what I'll write about from this point forward, or if I'll write at all, but I look forward to the opportunity to embrace my new job, settle down with my wife, and build the life we dreamed of when we moved to Louisville. And while the might sound boring and even undesirable, after spending my mid-twenties focusing on everything else, that sounds pretty nice.