What To Do

Some of you may know that I was offered a full time job in the Alumni Office at Snow College. The job was offered fairly casually, but after a little bit of questioning I discovered the seriousness of the offer. It pays more, but also requires me to work full time (during the summer too...shocker! How would that be? :)

Earlier this week I sat down with the principal to talk about my options. Mostly, I wanted to figure out what my future will be like at JHS before I turn my back on it. I expressed a desire to teach AP English and Humanities. He told me that I am next in line to teach those courses.

This is a BIG deal because veteran teachers are usually those who get those classes, but I am the one in the department with a Masters degree (or at least the one who WILL have it) and that means I am the most academically qualified. It's a great thing to have on my resume, and something that I would not have a chance to do at most other schools. If I were to leave now, I would be take a salary penalty and I would be making the school scramble to replace me. Now is NOT the time to tell a school I am not coming back; I would barely be giving 2 weeks' notice.

The job at the alumni office appeals to me because it is new, in a college environment, and the pay is about $10,000 more a year. I would also have better medical and dental benefits than those I have in Nephi. The job is high profile and high stress. My pay could increase based on performance, or I could be let go for poor performance. It seems like an easy choice, but I find myself questioning my ability to make good choices. I love teaching. At the end of the day, it brings me joy. I love having summers free and I love interacting with students on such an insightful level.

I talked to Nicki Blair today and she told me much of what I already know in my heart: I am a teacher. She believes the appeal of Snow comes because I would be doing something new and working with people I love, but that the novelty would wear out pretty quickly. She's right. It seems so basic, but Nicki knows my heart more than most. I love the challenge that teaching is, and as long as new students walk into my classroom, I will always have that challenge.

Memories

Wanna play a game?

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I share.  It doesn't matter if you knew me a lot or a little, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.  If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume your playing (but you don't have to) and I will come to your blog to leave one about you.

You Gotta Listen to This. :)

Click here and listen to a really fantastic story (Listen, don't just read!)

Blog Tagged

So, I have been putting off doing this post for a very long time.  It's not that I was afraid to take pictures of my life (I must say, my apartment photographs surprisingly well), but it has been a long time since I have been with my computer, an internet connection, my camera, and time to spare.  More so, I am rarely in my apartment since I have been working and living in Ephraim during the week.  Even so, I hope you enjoy this belated Blog tag response! :)  

The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things.  You have to do it right away...no straightening, cleaning, etc.  When you have finished, you can tag others.  :) 

The labels are underneath each picture...I am blog impaired and that is the only way I could get it to work!

Favorite Room

What are your children doing right now?  

(I got the idea for this one from my sister)

Closet

Dream Vacation

Favorite Shoes

Self-Portrait

Kitchen Sink

Toilet

Laundry Room

Fridge

And now...I tag Michelle, Rick, and Carli!  Reply to this post when you have completed your task! :) 

 

Alumni Coordinator...For How Long?

I am working as the Alumni Coordinator at Snow College during the month of July.  In the past three days I have organized a storage room and made two offices fully functional.  I have inventoried yearbooks, sorted files, written emails and made a variety of spreadsheets.  It is exactly the kind of office work I was able to do when I worked at Giovale Library, and it is exactly the kind of work I feel like I was meant to do.  

I dig it.  It is work in the truest sense, and does not provide the same fulfillment as teaching...but it provides a different sort.  I feel so incredibly connected and competent.  

Joni is the Director of Alumni Relations and is working to staff her office.  I am tempted.  No, scratch that.  I am VERY tempted.  Maybe not this job, right now, but being in a similar environment is SO appealing.   I love being back in a college atmosphere, even during the summer.  I love office work and all that it entails.  Hmmm.  

Oh, the Greyhound

I just travelled to Phoenix, AZ, via the Greyhound.  For those of you who are not Greyhound veterans (as I now surely must be...34 hours on the bus makes it official), let me tell you that being on the bus provides an education that I never knew I was missing.  It gives me the chance to interact with people who are life affirming and enriching.  During my bus ride during the stretch from Phoenix to Vegas, I sat near:

-A 23 year old Chinese girl traveling alone to the Grand Canyon to work.  I gave her a fruit roll up and saw her triple check handwritten notes that provided her with step to step directions in a broken English.

-An African-American woman who was just released from Perry (a Women's Penitentiary) after four months for smoking pot.

-A Latina, drunk beyond belief, who borrowed my phone to call an ex-love who was refusing to pick her up from the station in Flagstaff.  She sobbed as the passengers around her listened, pained.

-A proud grandma who was heading to California to see a first grandchild.

As you can tell, I stayed around women as much as I could.  The one time I sat next to a man it was during the home stretch.  He may or may not have caressed my arm as I slept.  

There is some lesson from a Greyhound journey that cannot be learned in any other way.  I can't make sense of it.  It was a lovely, long journey.  I read two books and ate at McDonald's a whole lot. And, the destination of Tempe was  really what made the trip so much fun.  I loved spending time with Chris and Rebecca, whom I have missed most dearly.  We watched movies, received pedicures, ate Ethiopian and Thai food, and talked a whole lot.  It was difficult to come home and be in the real world once more.   

My Birthday Hair! :)

So, this is what my hair looked like after the curlers. I know, inspirational.  :)  It was fun to have a different hairdo for my birthday.  Lalala.  Last night I had a party up the canyon.  We ate cake and ice cream.  Nancy and Diane put toothpicks on the cake instead of candles.  Nice touch.  We watched "Wait Until Dark" with a projector on a sheet on the side of the cabin.  I had a mixture of friends, people from the branch, former students, and family.  All in all, I think it was a successful birthday party, which I am glad for.  I was really antsy wondering if no one would show up, but they did and I was happy! :)  Thanks to all who sent birthday wishes my way!