If you keep fishing long enough, you eventually will hook into something that will take you for a ride. While I haven’t seen lions on the beaches of Africa like Santiago did, I feel like after fishing hundreds of days in a row, I have a big one on the line. And in a few short days, well I reckon I’ll be getting dragged around the sea by the energy only a classroom filled with 30 teenagers can produce.

But first, how did I end up with this fish on the line?

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330 days ago I wrote a very challenging post on this blog. If you have never read it, go ahead, I’ll wait here. It really makes this new post much more meaningful, and to be quite honest, further mind blowing for me.

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Okay welcome back! So I read it again too, and bruh ( that is how middle schoolers inform you that they are going to tell you something profound ) this is wild to me…

I’m going home, and my only plan is to make sure all my love and energy is directed there for now. I’m certain another passion will lead to another job – or another business being started, but for now I’ll just stop running and enjoy the destination.

Me, 330 days ago

Right on past me. Future you said you did stop running for a little bit and enjoyed your destination/home a bunch. But that thing about another passion coming up… oh and this…

I’m also pretty stoked to “work” for home. I still think teachers like my amazing partner have the most important job in the world, and I’m loving being able to support Becky more in her day-to-day.

Me, 330 days ago

Zoltan must have been listening. A few weeks later after writing that, I was applying to get a Restricted Substitute License with the State of Oregon. And in January of this year, I taught my first day ever.

And then in March, another Wild thing happened, and I spent the rest of the school year teaching full-time.

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And on Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, I will welcome a fresh batch of students into my new classroom. I am now a full-time ( well .86 ) teacher for the Bend La Pine School District. ( wow ). I will be teaching Study Skills to 6th graders, and Computer Science and Careers to 7th and 8th graders.

I am an educator. I get to go to school each day with Teagan, my 6th grader. I am thrilled. Stoked. Scared. Energized. Hopeful. Nervous. Beside myself. Happy.

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Last week was my first full week on the job. Monday was new hire orientation. The day prior, tragedy struck our town of Bend, Oregon and cast a shadow over our school district. We live in challenging and confusing times, and that makes me even more certain that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing.

All of my new team-mates at High Desert have been so welcoming and helpful during my first few days. Witnessing and feeling the amount of energy it takes to prepare our schools for students is staggering. I now fully understand why Becky was always so tired at the start of the school year. I feel it.

But most importantly, I feel hope. I’m so hopeful for this new year for the students. For this new beginning for me. I too will be going back to school on Wednesday to start my path towards a Master of Arts in Teaching at George Fox University.

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So I’m hooked in and ready for the ride. I’ll still try to keep fishing everyday, because it keeps me learning. It keeps me growing. And it keeps me calm. I’ll try to report back here and share how its going along the way. Take care and be kind to yourself y’all.