Familiar but Different

School is nearly done. It feels strangely familiar, but different in a way.

The school year wrapped up this week with next week being Regents examination week. As a result, the atmosphere within classrooms has become lax in the past few days. I think as teachers, we see the light at the end of the tunnel and look forward to the time off. The students who have done their best all year still come to school and now have nothing to worry about, so they have fun. The kiddos who did jack shit all year are working their asses off to make up for their year-long stupidity. To me, that's still fine because there are others who have simply stopped coming to school altogether... There's only so much I can worry about.

I like the feeling I get when something tough or trying is near completion. When I was in high school, things were always pretty cool around June. Teachers were fun to hang out with - we'd shoot the shit and watch funny movies. The gym would be open and we could play sport whatever we wanted. The school would host special activities and spirit days - I loved friendly competition. More importantly, I loved being done with everything and enjoying the free time left at the end. It was a good time and honestly, it's just as good now. Except, you know, I'm on the other side.

I suppose I've just been feeling a bit nostalgic the past few days in school. Today, we went through a few practice Regents exams and what not, but after a while, we just gathered together in my colleague's room and watched some Russell Peters. Some students watched with us, others played chess, others gossiped and some were on laptops but everyone was laughing and happy.

I'm finally at a place now where I can say I'm proud of my accomplishments this year. I changed careers from finance to education without giving two flying shits about what other people (mainly my relatives) had to say. I managed a full-time job, Teach for America commitments, grad school and a personal life. Granted, I did a pretty shitty job juggling them at all once sometimes, but still, it's a big deal. I'm pretty much done with my first year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to everyone who helped me, stood with me and tolerated my craziness throughout the year. I'll be leaving for Pakistan on June 18th and staying there until July 4th, but don't worry, the blogging will still continue throughout the summer.