I realize it's been a few years since I posted an update. I can blame many things, but mostly, I didn't make this blog a priority. I was focused on teaching, and my kitten, and loving life. And I very much did love it.
If you've been a long-time follower (I think I have one, lol), you may notice I changed the info at the top. And that's because I'm no longer living in a rural town. In fact, I made a huge change just last summer.
I moved to the big city.
And I hate it.
Well, hate is a strong word (but I really really really don't like... Not a Plain White T's fan? Haha)...
No, but really... I'm not a huge fan of living in the city. SF is a beautiful town to visit, and I grew up visiting it all my life. My aunt lived here for over 30 years before moving to New Mexico. My sister loves the city. My other aunt has lived here. My dad was born here. But I just don't jive with city life.
I quit teaching.
I'm still working in education, though.
I loved being a middle school teacher, I really did. But it was never my goal. It wasn't something I planned to do. I kind of fell into it (go look at my old blog, My Life in Limbo to see my start!) and I was good at it. I enjoyed working with an age most people can't stand. The students are the part I miss the most. But the parts that made me the happiest were the added responsibilities I took on - yearbook, leadership, Activity Director... If I could have just done those parts and not the rest, I might have stayed. But the reality is, one can't live on a teacher's salary in California and have a family. It's just not feasible.
There was no upward mobility in teaching for me. I didn't want to be a principal, work for district, or even work at a high school. If I took any of those jobs, I'd've had to have given up my favorite parts to do things I wouldn't enjoy.
I was stuck.
And if I stayed working as I was, I wouldn't be able to start a family. Besides the financial issues, teaching is emotionally draining. I would come home exhausted, physically and mentally. Decision fatigue is real, and so is teacher burnout. I've always wanted kids, with or without being married. And I knew I couldn't do it while teaching.
So I started searching for masters programs. I searched for a few years. I didn't want one in Education. I looked for Recreation programs. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. Then I found one. I applied, and got accepted.
I'm attending the USF Higher Education and Student Affairs masters program. The Student Affairs part is the part that caught my attention.
Working in student affairs, I can still be in the education world but I can put all my past experience from Recreation into play. I love it.
But it required moving to the city.
I got an internship at a local college through my program, and they provided housing. It's a tiny studio, smaller than the one I had before. I can handle that, though my kitten could not. He enjoys being outside in the country too much. Even if I was allowed to bring him, I wouldn't. So he's chillin at my aunt's place for a few years. He's very happy there.
The hard part to handle is living in the city. Things that have taken a while to get used (or that I don't know if I'll ever get used to...) to include:
- No car.
- Learning bus routes.
- Grocery shopping.
- Lyft and Uber.
- DoorDash.
- Walking on streets full of ...weird things.
- Loud noises all the time.
- People smoking on the street (not just cigs...)
- Trash chutes.
- Finding parking for visitors.
- Walking. A lot.
- How dirty everything is.
Things I love about living in the city:
- Boot and scarf weather (almost) all the time.
- Amazing restaurants.
- Pokemon Go Pokestops are EVERYwhere (and you can spin them while taking the bus!)
- Hayes Valley.
- Ocean Beach.
- BART.
- I'm technically closer to my family/bf.
Overall... I'm surviving. I'll be alright. But at the end of the school year, I'm moving to the 'burbs.
This country girl thought she'd be ok for a few years in the city, but quickly found out that the country is where her heart belongs.
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