The next day I was at a new coffee shop that I found. It actually ended up being exactly what I was looking for (minus internet). It is a local place, owned by a woman who bakes delicious treats and makes coffee. There are some comfortable chairs inside and a very nice patio out back. This will be my spot when I'm looking for somewhere to go.
Anyway, while I was there last week, the owner asked me where I was from and was giving me some places to explore. Then an older man piped up with some suggestions. We got to talking and one of his friends joined in. I mentioned that I was new to the area and would be substituting this year. Apparently, the man's friend used to be a principal and he was giving me tips for finding a job. I mentioned that I was looking for volunteer opportunities and they mentioned that they were CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates). I had never heard of a CASA before (which is ridiculous because they play a critical role in the lives of children in foster care.) As a teacher, I should have known about them. They started telling me about the work of a CASA. These are the people who act as the child's voice in court when there are hearings regarding abuse and neglect. They started giving me a lot of information about it and I got really excited! This must have been what Nick was referring to. Maybe this is the opportunity I'd been hoping to find. I found out that they were already in the middle of a training class, but got the contact information anyway. I called the trainer and she decided that she'd make an exception and squeeze me in. I'd have to do some make-up work, but with my experience as a teacher, she thought I'd do fine. I am in the second week of my CASA training and it is amazing. I know that once I get a case it will be hard to deal with all of the things my child/children went through, but it will give me a chance to help them be heard in court. I've always wanted to help students this way, but there was never an appropriate opportunity to do so. Maybe this will be my chance to make a difference in this world.
While on a drive yesterday, I started thinking...The average teacher makes it 4 years in the profession before quitting for various reasons. I taught for 4 years and now I don't have a job. Is teaching something I still really want to do? I am really missing school right now, but I found a journal from the beginning of last year in which I wrote about how exhausted and stressed I was and how I didn't want to teach anymore. It was too much and I was miserable. Things got better and then bad again toward the end of the year. If the average teacher only makes it 4 years, what do they do after? My initial instinct is "Yes, I still want to teach." But is that what I really want? What else could I do? I feel like teaching comes pretty naturally to me and I don't really think I'm good enough at anything else. I want a career, not some casual job to kill time and I want to make decent money, not work for minimum wage. But what do I do? Do I go back to school? Can I afford that? What would I study? What would I be good at? What can I do in or near a small town in the Pacific Northwest? Will there be teaching jobs for Nick? Do I want to give up having summers off with him? With our future kids? Maybe I should get a special education endorsement so I can work with smaller groups of kids and maybe part-time? Would I even like that? I know what I want, but it's not possible for me to have it now, so what do I do instead. I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment. Any thoughts or advice is welcome!
