Bad Timing or Open Door I Need to Step Through ?

[writergal]

How does that saying go, "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

 

I have a job interview for an education assistant at a local writing center next week (I emailed the center's director asking about their job posting since I did my undergraduate internship there like 20 years ago). Meanwhile, I have my state's education job fair next week as well.

 

I paid for admission to the job fair already. Do I still go, knowing that my state changed its hiring laws for educators to now require that preservice teachers must pass their state exams BEFORE a public or charter school can hire them?

 

Or do I not go, but go to the job interview instead?

 

Or, do I put my eggs in one basket by going to both and see what develops from those two experiences?

 

My final option is to send emails to the private schools in my city and surrounding suburbs to inquire about their hiring standards. Some private schools have such large ELL populations that now they require licensed ESL teachers, whereas some districts are lax about hiring teachers without licenses. I suppose I should do this option regardless of the other two?

 

Then I could start teaching African drumming to middle and high school students via my own African drum instructor who let me substitute teach for him before. I'd just have to network with the schools to see if that's a possibility, and then coordinate with my instructor to see when I could borrow his drums since he also makes a living teaching drumming at schools. But there's a lot of schools in my city so I wouldn't be encroaching on his territory.

 

(Previously the law was that teachers could be hired with a cap of 3 years to pass their state tests but the Republicans in my state changed the testing standards and the hiring law in one fell swoop, in the hopes of weeding out teachers who suck at math, essentially.)

 

Ugh. Stress.

 

Any thoughts? I will get my basic needs and bills covered via temp work or waitressing work or what have you. But I'm irritated that I got into a teaching program, borrowed all that student loan money and for what? To not get a license and masters because of a math test that I've previously failed because the testing company hasn't created study guides yet, and my state's legislation is arguing about this new testing company and possibly fixing it to be more reasonable but that won't happen until who knows when. I mean, I'm 41 and time is short you know?

[january2011]

I suggest doing it all. I know it's stressful, but I think you already know you're short on time and if you have the opportunity to move your life forward, why not go for it?

[writergal]

I suggest doing it all. I know it's stressful, but I think you already know you're short on time and if you have the opportunity to move your life forward, why not go for it?

 

I agree with you. I had lunch with my sister and niece today and talking to them about it helped me reach the conclusion that I'm burnt-out with my grad teaching program and don't want to continue past the student teacher portion. In the meantime, attending the job fair and job interview and continuing to network and apply for broadcast radio and public relation jobs while finishing my spring semester courses takes top priority. To reward myself I'm going to go into creative-outlet overload this summer and pursue everything I had disconnected from while in grad school. As you said, I'm short on time and want to move my life forward. Time to just go for it.