Working Woman

It's almost 10am and I'm still in my pajamas. Life is good. But as of tomorrow I'll be up bright and early. Last week I got the exciting news that I've been hired by the Peel board as a permanent grade 5 teacher. I was shocked when I got the call, as I've applied for so many jobs since returning home from Zimbabwe in July. I even interviewed for jobs I was sure I was going to get... but turns out I was the only one who was sure! I'm very thankful for a permanent job in the middle of the year. The current teacher was hired to a new position in the board, opening up her role.

For my last few years of teaching I taught ESL (English as a Second Language). It was my dream job... working with small groups of kids, teaching language (no math or science!!), watching kids go from silence to non-stop talking and learning how to read and write. It was the perfect job for me and it didn't require a lot of after school hours. The hardest part of going to Zimbabwe for me was giving up my job. And while I knew that getting back into ESL right away was unlikely, I had no idea how hard it was going to be to get any kind of teaching job.

The neat part about the school I'm working at is that they have a focus on social justice. They were really interested in our work in Africa and I know that's what tipped the scales in my favour. It's neat that the reason I gave up my job, is also the reason I got my new job. I officially start on the 21st but am going in tomorrow to meet the kids and start getting ready. I'm overwhelmed and scared but overall just incredibly grateful. I've enjoyed the slow pace of the last year and a half, but am more than ready to jump back into the working world!