Back in the Saddle

So. Today is the first day of school. With kids. In person. On Campus.

I always have butterflies with regard to the start of school. Contrary to popular opinion, I am very shy. Crushingly so, sometimes. The first day of school keeps me up the night before and has me dashing to the loo more often than usual.

Oddly enough, this year isn’t so bad. I actually slept pretty well last night (Advil PM helped, but still). These are the kids with whom I battled against the Covid/Zoom School Madness of last year. I can only see half of their faces, and will need some time to get them sorted out, but it’s not a bunch of new faces, so that’s pretty cool.

My Firstborn says I am particularly Zen…by comparison to past years, I guess. Maybe it is my age, maybe it is the last year…there are so many things that I can’t control. At all. There is that, but then some things that my director shared by way of approaching this year that really resonated with me.

She said she found some of the inspirational quotes from her workout sessions to be meaningful.

I don’t HAVE to be here, I GET to be here. I feel that every year, all the time. This is a great place to work and build relationships. Even as crunchy as this year could end up being, there isn’t another group of people with whom I’d want to combat crawl. We are going to be just fine.

Progress, not Perfection. As a not-so-closet control freak, this really speaks to me. Only god is perfect…my job is to pursue excellence. Every day that is going to look different…some days it’ll be 100%, other days it might be 45%. Yes, it’s true that there may be some learning gaps from last year, but my job, my VOCATION is to go to where my students ARE, wherever that is, and bring them as far along the path as I can before the year is over.

You are allowed to be both a Masterpiece and a Work-in-Progress, simultaneously. Oh, yeah. I don’t even think I need to elaborate on that. I am enough. I am worthy. I come to the table with my own special brand of Madness, and I am relentless.

It’s going to be a GREAT YEAR!