Okay, so If you’re reading this, you already know that I have taken the huge leap of a faith, made the big move to St. Mark’s school and am relatively well-settled into a 4th floor dormitory apartment. That said, Logan and I are still flitting back and forth to our home in Medway so that we can spend time with Greg. Greg had absolutely zero interest in, or intention of, moving into a 4th floor walk-up apartment in a girls dormitory. I can’t blame him. Well I could, but it wouldn’t do me any good. So, Logan and I have taken to spending most of the week (T, W, TH nights) at the school and coming home through the long weekends. It’s been a challenge, but we have managed to fall into a manageable routine over the past few months.
I’ve been told that if you survive the ten weeks of Fall (up to Thanksgiving Break), you will have made it through a rite of passage and it’s all downhill from there. The “downhill” part may still need to prove itself out, but I will say that this Thanksgiving Break is probably the most well-earned vacation I’ve ever had. In my inexperience, I treated this 10-week marathon as a sprint and have suffered for it. Two weeks ago, I hit a figurative wall and have been working purely on will and tenacity, waiting with bated breath to reach November 21. This is quite possibly the hardest I’ve worked since my first year of law school — I hope no other employer I’ve had is reading this.
And a “rite of passage” it has certainly been. I have had to deal with snarky, disrespectful, intoxicated, homesick, willful, ecstatic, depressed and wonderful teenagers (sometimes all on the same day) and their parents, who bring the same or similar emotional issues with them. Luckily, I have been surrounded by wonderful colleagues who have helped me deal with all the newness and insanity.
I was even asked, as a new faculty member, to create a podcast for the school’s website, to talk about my experience thus far. The podcast concludes with my response to the question, “What has surprised you most about your first ten weeks here?” It took less than five seconds for me to respond, with utter honesty, that the biggest surprise has been how much I absolutely love what I am doing and how lucky I feel to have made this change. It’s been crazy, exhausting and challenging; but I would do it all over again. I like to think that I’d do it better. But even if I couldn’t change a thing, I’d still do all over again. That’s been a wonderful surprise. And I’m very thankful for that.
Now let’s hope I feel similarly in ten more weeks.
Outside the Law 