Overwhelming yet great!

Last Wednesday, I started school. This year, it will be different. There will be no uniforms, no first friday masses, no Christmas celebrations, no religion. This year, I am teaching at a great public school. The first week was clearly a whirlwind of trying to get my feet on the ground. Teaching is an odd profession. When you start, you don't ease into it. You hit the ground running, and if you're lucky, you won't trip and fall. I managed to get through my first few days just fine, leaving me with a weekend to stew over next week, and stew, my mind certainly did, even causing some anxiety sickness on Saturday! Yeah, I had some rough ideas for my first week, but I didn't have a plan. There are still so many things I am unsure about; So many policies to become familiar with, all in a working model of a school community. Today, I got up with a fresh mindset and dumped out my bookbag (oh, I can't wait until the day when I can take home a NORMAL bookbag again, not one overflowing with books). I went through all of my stuff, and I began to plan. It's like when you haven't been swimming for a while...the water seems cold, until you jump in, and you realize that it really wasn't as cold as you thought it was. The planning went smoother than I thought, and here I am, before noon, done with my plans. With only a few things to tie up before the rollercoaster begins again tomorrow, I can let go of some of that anxiety that I've been feeling this weekend!