The prompt for today (on nablopomo.com) is "What's your favorite poem?" Which (pardon me) I think is kind of dumb, but I'll play along: The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service. Although the story is a bit...grim, my parents paid me $20 to memorize it when I was 7. And I have fond memories of learning verses in the bathroom and reciting it to my dad over a chocolate malt at Mullen's Ice Cream Shop. Done.
Now, I'd like to write about this Time Warp that is my profession. For starters, whenever I mention a time warp, I feel the need to give Brad and Janet a nod. It's just a jump to the left.
I've been teaching high school since 2001. I started right out of college and have had the same job since then. When I started (at the age of 22...I turned 23 shortly after school started), my students were anywhere from 16-18 years old. Now that I've been teaching for a while, I'm 31, and my students are still anywhere from 16-18 years old. I don't feel remarkably older than the 23 that I was when I started. I know that I am, and I can tell in the way that I do my job. There are other tell-tale signs, too. I'm squishier. I've got a kid, gray hairs, and little lines around my eyes. I've also given up the little GT coupe (to my husband) in favor of the practical SUV.
Maybe I don't know what it's supposed to feel like to be 31. My mom always said that I was "3, going on 30," implying that I was an old soul, or beyond my years, or whatever you'd like to call that kind of personality. Now that I'm 31, does that make me like 61? What does that mean, anyway? Is it a Virgo thing? Any astrologists out there? Is it an oldest child thing? Any birth order experts out there? Is it just me? I kind of feel like it is, sometimes.
Where I'm really going with this is that age is one of those bizarre things that I feel like people put way too much stock in. Just because I'm 31, I don't feel like that precludes me from having friends that are 39. Or friends that are 25. Good friends. I think that since I've been out of the school structure (as a student, that is), I've found more peace with this idea. I've always kind of felt like the square peg, and it means a lot to me to find good people that I care about, have something in common with, and that care about me, regardless of the number of times they've gone around the sun.
I don't know, maybe it's just that time of the year. The school year is almost over, and my seniors are graduating. Pages are turning. I know that teachers are supposed to say that we don't have favorite students, but that's a total load. I have a pretty short list of all-time favs, and I guess that I'd just like to think that it's ok for us to be friends as adults. Does that seem weird? Maybe that's just what's got me thinking...I don't want it to be weird because it's kind of rare that I really feel like people understand the way that my twisted little mind works, and if I can help someone else be a little more comfortable in their skin, it seems like that should be ok.
I'd love some feedback if you're so inclined. And, if not, feel free to think strange things about me. I'm ok with that, I guess.
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I agree that teachers have favorite students, just like students have favorite teachers. It's only natural. And I don't think it's weird to be friends with them. After all, Mrs. Pipilas and I still hang out and she could be my mother. :-) I personally gravitate towards friends that are older than me because I find that they are nearer to my maturity level. I'm sure you can recall how fabulously I got along with my classmates (NOT!). I think as I grow older I care less about the fact that the majority of my friends are not my age.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Virgo, an oldest child and an old soul too! Maybe there's a connection....
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