I'm coming home again.
Do you think about me now and then?
Cause I'm coming home again
Coming home again.
Kanye West ft. Chris Martin- “Homecoming”
Greetings folks. It’s been eleven months since I left Chicago. Eleven months since I walked away from a great job to be closer to my family. Eleven months since I made one of the toughest decisions in my life. I have no regrets about leaving. It was a hard choice but a necessary one. I’m confident enough in my abilities and in God’s power that my career will still be what it’s supposed to be regardless of that decision. Plus it’s not like I’ve been out of work, my bills unpaid, or that I’m not enjoying what I’m doing. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t say I missed the city and the wonderful people I met there.
Tomorrow I’ll be heading back to the “Second City” to see some friends and people that after a year working next to them and with them they became like family. I miss them like crazy and sometimes I look at the collage photo frame they gave me as a going away gift with pictures of us and just smile and reflect on the memories.
I’ll also be going back to introduce the folks to my fiancé, whom none of them have ever met, but have heard lots about and are dying to meet. And of course we’ll be there to get it in and celebrate the pending nuptials, life and health and anything else worth raising a glass to.
So if you’re in the Chi this weekend be sure to hit me up. I’ll be where the party is. Until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Proposal
Excuse me if I’m sounding crazy
But you’ve been the one I’ve been hoping and waiting for
I have searched all around but there’s nobody else in the world
Who love me like you do.
-Jazmine Sullivan “Excuse Me”
Greetings family! When I first started writing this blog in January 2010 it was a way of me getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head and onto to the screen. It was my hope that it would serve as a bit of therapy to cope with all of the heartache and pain I was experiencing at the time. And it worked. It wasn’t a magic pill that solved the problem overnight but writing did in fact help, along with time, alcohol and prescription meds (lol I kid, I kid). Seriously, it was therapeutic.
Since then I’ve met a woman who I’m deeply, madly and profoundly in love with. She’s smart, beautiful, vivacious, curvaceous, intelligent, ambitious, loving, caring and very supportive. I have never met a woman who compliments me so well and who I feel is the ying to my yang. I’m thankful that I was in a place mentally and emotionally to handle her and that she was in a position to give me a chance. There is no doubt in my mind that she’s “The One.”
As such, I proposed to her and she said yes. Yes I’m getting married and I couldn’t be happier about it. I talked to her parents, even talked to her friends, and they all gave me the thumbs up. Not sure if they would have said no if that would have stopped me, but it’s nice to know that the people who mean the most to the woman I love all approve.
I’m looking forward to planning the wedding with her, watching her walk down the aisle towards me, and the day after it’s over as we start the first day of the rest of our lives together. Special thanks to her parents and friends for their love and support and to my family and friends for being there for me when I needed them. Much love and until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!
But you’ve been the one I’ve been hoping and waiting for
I have searched all around but there’s nobody else in the world
Who love me like you do.
-Jazmine Sullivan “Excuse Me”
Greetings family! When I first started writing this blog in January 2010 it was a way of me getting my thoughts and feelings out of my head and onto to the screen. It was my hope that it would serve as a bit of therapy to cope with all of the heartache and pain I was experiencing at the time. And it worked. It wasn’t a magic pill that solved the problem overnight but writing did in fact help, along with time, alcohol and prescription meds (lol I kid, I kid). Seriously, it was therapeutic.
Since then I’ve met a woman who I’m deeply, madly and profoundly in love with. She’s smart, beautiful, vivacious, curvaceous, intelligent, ambitious, loving, caring and very supportive. I have never met a woman who compliments me so well and who I feel is the ying to my yang. I’m thankful that I was in a place mentally and emotionally to handle her and that she was in a position to give me a chance. There is no doubt in my mind that she’s “The One.”
As such, I proposed to her and she said yes. Yes I’m getting married and I couldn’t be happier about it. I talked to her parents, even talked to her friends, and they all gave me the thumbs up. Not sure if they would have said no if that would have stopped me, but it’s nice to know that the people who mean the most to the woman I love all approve.
I’m looking forward to planning the wedding with her, watching her walk down the aisle towards me, and the day after it’s over as we start the first day of the rest of our lives together. Special thanks to her parents and friends for their love and support and to my family and friends for being there for me when I needed them. Much love and until next time, Stay Up and Be Blessed!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Tales of a First Year Teacher
Greetings folks. I come to you with a heavy heart and mixed emotions. Today marks the last day of school for me in my first year of teaching. It’s been an up and down year. My hope is that the students were able to learn just as much from me as I was able to gleam from them.
When I first took this job in August of last year it was under the guise of taking a good law magnet program and making it great. My goal was to be here for 2-3 years as a way of giving back while working at my Alma matter. Entering, I was under the impression that the program was a 6 or 7. Once I arrived I QUICKLY realized that the program was at a 3 or 4. There were a myriad of organizational issues, such as which books go with which class, what the curriculum was for this particular program, protocol, and there was a shortage of legal knowledge in the program. The first few weeks I got to work at 7 and didn’t leave many times until 6 or 7. The job was stressful, the task was daunting and for once in my life I was fearful that I may not be able to handle the task at hand.
Eventually I took a step back and challenged myself. I told myself that if I gave up on these kids then I would be no better than the leaders who had come before me and that I would no longer be worthy of the title “The Diplomat.” Diplomats get things done, diplomats get results, and diplomats don’t complain about the problem, they look for solutions to solve the problem. The program had 3 or 4 directors in the past 5 years.
After having this pep talk with myself, I put my grandiose plans to the side and constructed new short term and long term goals for the program. They included, growing the program, marketing and promoting, and teaching the kids about law. To give you an idea of just how little the kids knew, I was teaching the 9th graders and 12th graders from the same book; because when I gave them a quiz in the beginning of the year they couldn’t answer the basic questions. Combine that with the fact that I didn’t have the book necessary to teach the 12th grade course International Relations, it was a blessing in disguise.
In the beginning I was stern, direct and drew the line firmly in the sand as some of the veteran teachers had urged me to do. They told me to make my stand early and that they would respect me. They told me “Try to be their friend today and they will walk over you tomorrow.” My sternness was met with great consternation, especially from the seniors who grown accustomed to doing what they want. I don’t know if they didn’t think I would last or if they thought they could punk me but they sure tried. After realizing that I was just as stubborn, if not more stubborn, then they were and that they couldn’t run me out of my school, we grew to like and tolerate each other. In the end, the very classes that gave me the most trouble initially (juniors and seniors) were the ones who helped elevate the program’s image the most and went to bat for me whenever I needed them.
The freshmen were still freshman. But what can you expect….they’re freshmen. After a year or two in the program, and knowing what I like and don’t like, and will and will not tolerate, they may shape up to be one of my best classes. But that remains to be seen.
What have I learned?
1. Teaching ain’t easy.
Teachers don’t teach because they have no other options, they teach because they want to. The $32,000 starting salary for teachers in Miami-Dade County is not worth the stress, headaches and uncertainty surrounding the profession, even with summers off. I applaud my colleagues who went to school knowing that when they received their degrees they would be going into the classroom to shape the minds of our children. Even though I’m a “teacher” now, I look at myself as a lawyer who teaches as opposed to a professional teacher. I believe I haven’t earned the title of teacher and would be disrespecting the craft and the profession if I labeled myself as such.
2. Teachers need more respect.
It has come to my attention that people really don’t understand what goes into being a good teacher. In addition to be tasked with teaching kids about Shakespeare quadratic equations, and chemistry, teachers are also tasked with being a counselor, confidant, social worker and advisor. Teachers are confronted with students’ problems at home, such as hunger, having one or more parents in jail, having maybe themselves been in jail, and dealing with the loss of a friend or family member. It is unfair to expect a child to come to school and focus when he didn’t eat dinner last night. It’s unrealistic to expect a kid not to be restless and be well behaved when they lost their best friend over the weekend. It’s totally unfair to expect a student to listen to your lecture or participate in your activity (no matter how many hours you spent on it) when their parent got arrested during Christmas break. (I’m not making these things up. These are just a few of the things my magnet students experienced this year.)
3. Teachers need more money.
While race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status may divide us as Americans, one of the things that unites us is the fact that we all get a teacher. As such, to close the widening gap between classes, to ensure that we’re able to compete in a global economy, we have to invest in education. Part of that investment requires attracting the best and brightest to teach our youth, which for most means more money. Everyone wants to be a doctor or a lawyer, not because they really love school, but because at the end of that arduous road, there’s the idea that they will be financially rewarded. In order to receive the best you have to pay the best.
At the end of this year I still can’t say I know it all. The pros tell me that even if I stay in this profession 5 or 10 years that a good teacher will still be learning how to improve and be better. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the lives of these students and apologize to the graduating class of 2011 for not doing more, knowing more and teaching them more. I thank them for their patience and understanding and wish them the best in their future endeavors. To the classes that come behind them, because of the trials and tribulations of my first year, I’ll be one year better, but still far from perfect. Each new year (however many there may be) I vow to be better than the previous year and hope that I’m not as good as I will be next year. It’s been a pleasure and an honor and I look forward to doing it again next year.
When I first took this job in August of last year it was under the guise of taking a good law magnet program and making it great. My goal was to be here for 2-3 years as a way of giving back while working at my Alma matter. Entering, I was under the impression that the program was a 6 or 7. Once I arrived I QUICKLY realized that the program was at a 3 or 4. There were a myriad of organizational issues, such as which books go with which class, what the curriculum was for this particular program, protocol, and there was a shortage of legal knowledge in the program. The first few weeks I got to work at 7 and didn’t leave many times until 6 or 7. The job was stressful, the task was daunting and for once in my life I was fearful that I may not be able to handle the task at hand.
Eventually I took a step back and challenged myself. I told myself that if I gave up on these kids then I would be no better than the leaders who had come before me and that I would no longer be worthy of the title “The Diplomat.” Diplomats get things done, diplomats get results, and diplomats don’t complain about the problem, they look for solutions to solve the problem. The program had 3 or 4 directors in the past 5 years.
After having this pep talk with myself, I put my grandiose plans to the side and constructed new short term and long term goals for the program. They included, growing the program, marketing and promoting, and teaching the kids about law. To give you an idea of just how little the kids knew, I was teaching the 9th graders and 12th graders from the same book; because when I gave them a quiz in the beginning of the year they couldn’t answer the basic questions. Combine that with the fact that I didn’t have the book necessary to teach the 12th grade course International Relations, it was a blessing in disguise.
In the beginning I was stern, direct and drew the line firmly in the sand as some of the veteran teachers had urged me to do. They told me to make my stand early and that they would respect me. They told me “Try to be their friend today and they will walk over you tomorrow.” My sternness was met with great consternation, especially from the seniors who grown accustomed to doing what they want. I don’t know if they didn’t think I would last or if they thought they could punk me but they sure tried. After realizing that I was just as stubborn, if not more stubborn, then they were and that they couldn’t run me out of my school, we grew to like and tolerate each other. In the end, the very classes that gave me the most trouble initially (juniors and seniors) were the ones who helped elevate the program’s image the most and went to bat for me whenever I needed them.
The freshmen were still freshman. But what can you expect….they’re freshmen. After a year or two in the program, and knowing what I like and don’t like, and will and will not tolerate, they may shape up to be one of my best classes. But that remains to be seen.
What have I learned?
1. Teaching ain’t easy.
Teachers don’t teach because they have no other options, they teach because they want to. The $32,000 starting salary for teachers in Miami-Dade County is not worth the stress, headaches and uncertainty surrounding the profession, even with summers off. I applaud my colleagues who went to school knowing that when they received their degrees they would be going into the classroom to shape the minds of our children. Even though I’m a “teacher” now, I look at myself as a lawyer who teaches as opposed to a professional teacher. I believe I haven’t earned the title of teacher and would be disrespecting the craft and the profession if I labeled myself as such.
2. Teachers need more respect.
It has come to my attention that people really don’t understand what goes into being a good teacher. In addition to be tasked with teaching kids about Shakespeare quadratic equations, and chemistry, teachers are also tasked with being a counselor, confidant, social worker and advisor. Teachers are confronted with students’ problems at home, such as hunger, having one or more parents in jail, having maybe themselves been in jail, and dealing with the loss of a friend or family member. It is unfair to expect a child to come to school and focus when he didn’t eat dinner last night. It’s unrealistic to expect a kid not to be restless and be well behaved when they lost their best friend over the weekend. It’s totally unfair to expect a student to listen to your lecture or participate in your activity (no matter how many hours you spent on it) when their parent got arrested during Christmas break. (I’m not making these things up. These are just a few of the things my magnet students experienced this year.)
3. Teachers need more money.
While race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status may divide us as Americans, one of the things that unites us is the fact that we all get a teacher. As such, to close the widening gap between classes, to ensure that we’re able to compete in a global economy, we have to invest in education. Part of that investment requires attracting the best and brightest to teach our youth, which for most means more money. Everyone wants to be a doctor or a lawyer, not because they really love school, but because at the end of that arduous road, there’s the idea that they will be financially rewarded. In order to receive the best you have to pay the best.
At the end of this year I still can’t say I know it all. The pros tell me that even if I stay in this profession 5 or 10 years that a good teacher will still be learning how to improve and be better. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the lives of these students and apologize to the graduating class of 2011 for not doing more, knowing more and teaching them more. I thank them for their patience and understanding and wish them the best in their future endeavors. To the classes that come behind them, because of the trials and tribulations of my first year, I’ll be one year better, but still far from perfect. Each new year (however many there may be) I vow to be better than the previous year and hope that I’m not as good as I will be next year. It’s been a pleasure and an honor and I look forward to doing it again next year.
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