The end...*sigh*

Today, at 2:30, I locked up a classroom at Kenowa Hills High School and headed out, probably for the last time. As I passed through the student-packed hallway, I could feel the excitement, an electric buzz which can signify only one thing: The end was near. That's right! It's early June and summer, for all practical purposes, has arrived.

This also means a three month break for me from signing hall passes, running the video projector, and coaxing foot-dragging teens into doing their work. It's funny, when I tell people that I work with teens, a look of pity comes across their face, then they say things like "Gosh, you're brave" or "I could never do that" When they say this they vaguely imply that my students are devil children. And those are the positive reactions.

It's nothing like that. In fact, when I got into my car I sighed wistfully, and realized that I could keep on doing this every day this summer. Now, there definitely are days when I question my career choice, but I always come back to wanting to teach. I truly like working with teens, even when they're having an ADD day. I like the whirlwind world of high school, with the constant procession of homecomings, fundraisers, proms and graduations. It's like getting a free daily ticket to the civic. I get to be the detached witness of it all. Sometimes it's draining, and you want to say "Don't you realize how shallow this is!" but mostly it's amusing. One thing's for sure, there's never a dull moment.

Another thing I like is the chance to help students. I absolutely love getting the chance to help a kid with some homework, or to teach them how to be responsible. While I won't be setting the world on fire, I still like the idea that I'm in a position to improve somebody's life. And it's funny also, how many people will ridicule me for this. I've had many people, mostly of the conservative bent, who believe that being a public school teacher is a useless job, a waste of time. After all, they say, I'll only end up affecting a handful of people in my career, so why bother. I've had many, many people imply what a waste of life my career choice is, but only two people who ever said it was a good choice. Now I know how a missionary feels.

And for three months, I have a break, from helping people, from serving the communties of Kent county. Sure I'll fill it up with camping, swimming, biking and running. But I think I'll be chomping at the bit to get back to school, to my "pointless" job and do some more