When I graduated from college with a BS in Psych and a BA in French, I joined Teach for America, a national teaching program that places recent college grads in low-income, high-risk schools in order to raise student achievement. I spent two years teaching high school English and remedial reading, but burned out due to a less-than-stellar administration, and went on to other things.
The beauty of Teach for America isn’t that it gets people into the classroom; it’s that it gets them hooked on fixing education inequality no matter what career path they take. My fellow teachers in the program have gone on to be policy analysts, principals, and lawyers all fighting to ensure that one day, all children will have the opportunity to receive an excellent education.
And I’m no different. Today is the first day of grad school for me; I’ve enrolled in a three-year, part-time MSW program designed for working professionals with day jobs and families and obligations, the goal being to get my school social work endorsement so I can continue to help at-risk students.
So I’d like to apologize in advance if posts slow down. I try to have 3 posts/week, but between classes, work and trying to get a better job, family, writing, reading, those trips to the gym I’m paying for but that never seem to happen, I’m not sure if I can keep it up.
Writing is important to me, as is connecting with readers and other writers, so I’m going to make a big effort to stop procrastinating and actually write whenever I have the chance – before work, on breaks, evenings when the kid isn’t around. Preferably while still getting at least 5 hours of sleep at night.
When your life is hectic, how do you find balance between work and school and family and hobbies?