Although teaching can be difficult at times and the pay is not extraordinary, I am very glad that I have a job with definite beginnings and endings. For almost 2 decades I have been marking time according to a school calendar: 1 week until Labor Day, 2 months to Thanksgiving holiday, 2 weeks until Christmas vacation, 1 month till Spring Break, 1 week until Easter, and of course the infamous countdown to summer vacation when you can purge your backpack or your briefcase of everything having to do with classes and forget it until August.
Even within the school year we've divided up the calendar, and today is the end of the 4th 6 weeks! I love the feeling of ending something...a good book, a difficult paper, a hike up a mountain...I know it's silly, but it makes me almost giddy with excitement. Reports cards go out Monday and my classes will clean out their English folders, throw away old papers, and start fresh.
And truthfully, don't we all just need a fresh start sometimes?
