The Degree

I knew it was wrong to be there. I could feel it in each class, but I pressed on towards my goal. Determination turned to blind stubbornness. I wanted a degree and this teaching stuff was ridiculously easy. Every A and every compliment made it easier and easier to ignore that sense of dread. I was dreading actually becoming a teacher. But I'd deal with that after getting my bachelor's degree.

For someone so smart I can be awfully stupid.

(This is where the story gets slightly out of order. I actually took the title of wife the semester before I graduated. For consistency, though, let's skip that part and return to it later.)

I had never substitute taught a day in my life and I knew very few people in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation. And like so many careers, this one is highly political. It's all about who you know. My application was in but there was no interest. I applied at Evansville Christian School who hired me immediately because very few are willing to teach for almost free. A week after accepting the job, I was offered half a semester at Tekoppel Elementary. Oh how my life would have been different.

I was absolutely miserable at ECS. It's a great school, if you are a student. But when a parent pays that much for their child's education, they feel they are your direct boss. I had a homeroom of around 20 sixth graders, but also taught math to roughly 20 more sixth graders, around 40 something 5th graders and 5 eighth graders. That's well over 100 parents, or as I like to put it, over 100 bosses. I was bullied and intentionally intimidated by several of them. They were awful enough to ruin it for the ones who were incredibly kind to me. And what could the principal do? She had thousands of bosses. The stress level for me was through the roof. I was terrified of these children and their parents. I was terrified by all the rules and rigidity of the school. I was terrified by my boss and several of the teachers. I was miserable. The one bright spot was a teacher there named Shelly Main. She wanted me to stay but after that year, I bolted.

I never wanted to teach again. That year made me really afraid of large groups of kids and even more so of their parents. I guess teaching was out. What a waste of a degree! What was I going to do now?