Back to life, back to reality

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Back to life, back to reality…

Today for the first time I got the experience of being a teacher coming back to school after a long summer off.  And it hit me hard!  I am exhausted, sweating profusely, I have a mild headache, my feet hurt but yet I still can’t stop smiling!  The moment I saw my class and heard the squeals of little children yelling out “Teacher Tracy” the smile came.  Summer break is a highlight of being a teacher, but today I was reminded why I am really here and have realized that being a teacher is the only career for me.

I had an incredible first summer vacation.  I traveled around the world and back again.  I went to Vietnam, Cambodia, northern and southern Thailand, Sri Lanka, Borneo and Bali.  I celebrated my first Songkran with my Thai friends in Khon Kaen and at home in Phayakkaphum Phisai.  I aged another year.  I climbed mountains.  I slept in jungles.  I spent three amazing weeks with my mom and another two with a close friend.  I ate traditional delicacies and learned about new cultures.  Everything I did over break made working seven days a week back home worth it.  I am grateful for those adventures which further enhanced my perspective on the world and re-sparked my interest in seeing even more of what is out there.

Today starts another semester.  Last semester my goal was to survive!  This semester my goal is to take what I learned and become the best teacher I possibly can.  This semester marks my last semester at Iam Sook…at least for now.  I have one more semester to influence my kids, teach them everything I can and show them that speaking English can be fun!  Most importantly though this semester I want to teach my kids that it is ok to fail as long as you try.  I want my kids to step out of their comfort zones, challenge themselves, make themselves vulnerable to the world.  I want to teach them that accomplishing something challenging is a lot more rewarding then taking the easy way out and even if you fail at least you tried.  If you don’t try you will never get the opportunity to feel success.  If I can teach my kids that lesson then I will have succeeded as a teacher.  That lesson will be far more valuable for the rest of their lives than knowing all the parts of a plant and how photosynthesis works.  That is the lesson that took me 32 years to really figure out.  If I can teach that to my kids at 7 or 8 years old hopefully they will learn to embrace life and not be afraid.  My work is cut out for me, but I am ready.