Two years ago today I graduated college, but it was 2020 so while it was a big moment it still felt like nothing really changed. But now two years later, a lot has changed. (Although surprisingly its raining here just like it was that day).

The past few monthsI’ve felt like I have been in an Learning to Adult crash course. Which is a big reason why the blog has been completely stagnant. In August I unexpectedly took a last-minute job teaching second grade. Those of you who have been around for a while know that I went to college to get my degree in theater, and those of you who know me, know I’ve said many times “no way will I go into teaching.”  Yeah… jokes on me.  I teach second grade, and even crazier… I like it.

One of the best things is I only have 15 students and it’s wonderful. I am very much blessed to have fallen into a job with good coworkers and GREAT students. I’ve substitute taught a lot and the typical California school class has 25+ students. I’ve been in a class with THIRTY-EIGHT KIDS, more than I had in every college class I took. So 15 is an amazing number to have for a job I was kind of thrown into. 

What I’ve Learned

It has been a huge learning curve having a class all of my own. Now having to have lesson plans every week, and try to teach every subject to my little second-graders. Like math… 2nd grade math feels very different than it did when I was learning it, but I am slowly getting the hang of it. 

Another big thing I never thought of was creating class bulletin boards every month. I’m sorry to all my teachers that made beautiful boards that I literally didn’t care anything about- I know now how long it really took you to do that. Though I will still be confused about teachers (mainly in high school and college) assigning busy work/ridiculously long assignments because grading sucks and it’s tedious and if someone has the answer I’m all ears. 

Teaching has really forced me to practice patience, a skill I have felt very lacking. It also challenges me to figure out new ways to explain how things work. Kids come up with questions I never would have thought and trying to come up with the right answers in a way they can understand feels like it can be a career all on its own.

Learning to balance life stuff and everything I have to do for teaching has been a big shift but it’s also been fun. Like seeing my kiddos who struggled with something Ace their test without needing my help, or getting drawings from kids just because they wanted to make me something. Plus surprisingly, teaching elementary gives you a lot of opportunities to play dress up. As a theater major, I go all out because I am extra like that, so yes, my costume collection is actually being put to good use.

Bonus Fact

Another fun fact is today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of my favorite titles of Mary, and the only one I knew existed for most of my childhood as that is the image I saw in my home. It felt very fitting that December 12th was the day my graduation fell on.

It also happens to now be the first day of the last week of my first semester of teaching. How cool is that? Peep the cool socks I’ve been wearing today in celebration. 

Link to the bomb socks https://sockreligious.com/products/guadalupe

I want to get back into blogging I just feel I have nothing to say, but I hope to get some inspiration soon. In the meanwhile, let me know if there is anything you would like to see in a blog post.

A book review/wrap-up will be coming in the next few weeks as I try and get through 7 more books before the year’s end. Wish me luck!