School

I love school. This is no joking matter, I really do. The routine, the controlled chaos, it is all absolutely fantastic to me. I spent most of my life knowing what I would do with it when it came time to make a choice. I always knew that I would become a teacher. This whole writing a book thing really threw a wrench into my plan. Lucky for me, I do well with multi-tasking.

I started my student teaching this week, and what a wonderful week it has been. To be completely honest, I was dreading the start of this year. I didn't know if I wanted to continue on with my plan to become a teacher, even though I had to finish if I ever wanted to do anything with my degree. Not to mention the fact that I was out of my mind with fear. But, we all know that we are the bravest when we are forced to face our fears.

So I did, even though I really had no choice in the matter. I walked into a small building, a Freshman in high school for the second time in my life. Sure, that is an exaggeration, but by the end of the first day, I was a bit overwhelmed. But, I went back the second day, the third, fourth, and the fifth. Did it get easier? Of course it did. Am I still afraid? Petrified. This is me we're talking about. If I wasn't stressed out, the world might very well end.

The school I will spend the next 8 weeks with is a small high school north of Lawrence. Most of the kids have gone to school together since Kindergarten. I wanted to teach in a rural school because I grew up in a rural school. Inner city has never been my forte, and those kids would eat me alive anyway. They say to always stick to what you know, and call me crazy, but I think I know a thing or two about small town life. After all, I do hail from arguably the greatest small town in the world. But, I could be a little bias.

When we are young, we always play the game of, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I'm sure I have had many colorful answers over the years, but as I said before, I always knew deep down what I would do with my life. It may not be an immediate thing with the way my life usually twists and turns, but I know teaching will always be there for me. I love it too much to let it go.

I was standing in the hallway watching as students passed by me, rushing to get to their classes. Boys who had known each other their entire lives wore football jerseys in anticipation for the annual scrimmage, while girls giggled at a private joke made years before I ever walked in the building. For a moment, I was thrust back into my past. Purple blurred to green, friends I made as a child replaced the strangers. I realized in that moment why I loved school, why I appreciated being placed in this school even though I had been there only a short week.

I was home.