Oh hey, blog. It’s been a while.
Turns out there’s less time than you thought to blog in the summer when you are running around having fun with your best friends all day. But more about summer later…
This post is all about that back-to-work-vibe!
Now, don’t get me wrong — if you told me right now that I still had two weeks of summer vacation left, I might just shed a tear or two of joy; however, coming back to work has been surprisingly…pleasant. I can’t tell you how many times this summer I complained about having to come back to work so early in August. Most of my teacher friends have two weeks left before their contracts start, and I see little to no point in me being here with no teachers or students. I could be soaking in a few more hours of sun by the pool, or binging on some PLL…
Yet here I am, sorting through emails, reading testing manuals, and starting on my second cup of coffee. And somehow, work feels different this year. I feel refreshed, comfortable, and grateful. Allow me to expand:
Refreshed. There’s a reason why people who work in education get summer breaks. Our jobs are hard. It takes everything you have to get from the first day of school to the last, and the reward is not in the pay. If you could compare a picture of myself today, to a picture of myself from the last day of school this year, you might not recognize the pale, sleep deprived, disheveled version of myself from June. The last few months of the school year, I was working 10-12 hour days, three or four days a week, and my closest friend was my Keurig. Then suddenly, the first day of summer vacation had arrived, and I felt as if I was living someone else’s life. I was sleeping 8 hours a night, I was cooking healthy meals, I was going to the gym almost every day, I was spending time with my friends, and I was reading books for fun! A month and half later, and I feel like I have regained the energy necessary to take on a new school year and that would not be possible in this career without a summer break.
Comfortable. As much as I wish I had a few more days of summer, part of the reason why I feel so comfortable starting work again is partially due to the fact that I had to start this early. My ideal work environment is when school is in session and there are teachers and students talking and walking up and down the hallways. Currently, there are 8-10 people on contract, and they mostly sit in offices all day. The school is quiet and I have no meetings or trainings scheduled until next week. In fact, I have very little on my calendar for my first week back. This “slow week” has actually helped me ease back into work mode, and it’s given me time to set up my office, organize my files, sort through cases, and do all of this at a semi-leisurely pace. But more than likely, the greatest reason for my comfort, is that I am starting the year at the same school as last year, and all of my educator friends will know exactly the feeling I’m describing.
I firmly believe that a huge part of being a good school psychologist is to become an integral part of your campus. That means getting to know your administration and teachers, getting to know the students, and understanding the culture of your school and its community. All of this is really hard to do when you get moved from one school to another each year and do not experience any form of continuity in your job. Last year was my first full year at HMS and towards the end of the year, I began to feel at home at this school. It was also my first full year as a middle school LSSP (not to mention only my 3rd full year as an LSSP, period) and let me tell you, it is a different world up here compared to elementary! But I survived the year, got a pretty good handle on my responsibilities, and developed some good relationships along the way. Being able to start another school year back at HMS is not only familiar, but it gives me the ability to spend less time “getting the hang of things” and more time to improve the quality of my work. Added bonus? No need to move offices!
Grateful. It is not uncommon for people to spend most of their young adult lives trying to figure out what career they want to pursue. Many will work several different jobs before deciding to go back to school, or finding a job they really enjoy. I got pretty lucky in the career department, because so far, I seem to have picked right the first time. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to work with children and teaching was my top choice for years until I got into high school. As I got older, the idea of counseling and therapy seemed more appealing than a classroom setting (but still with children), and my love of psychology was born. When the Masters in School Psychology degree was brought to my attention, I realized it was the perfect mix of psychology, education, therapy and teaching, all wrapped up into one job! The rest is history.
Like I mentioned earlier, my job is not easy. There are some days when I can’t decide whether to cry or scream as I’m getting in my car to drive home. But despite the emotionally draining days, and the many long nights working from home, I still go to bed each night feeling passionate about the career I chose, and for that, I am so very thankful. I’m not sure that most people my age feel the same way. In my job, no two days are ever the same, and it is definitely never boring. One way or another, the kids always manage to make me laugh, and bringing a smile to the face of even just one teacher or student completely makes my day. I really, truly enjoy my job and I hope that I can keep doing it for as long as that passion exists inside of me.
As I have slowly started to get back into the groove of work, I cannot help but reflect on how grateful I am that I am able to work and earn a decent salary, that I have a nice office and supplies, that I enjoy the company of my coworkers, that my work is close to home, and most of all, that I am able to do something I have a genuine care for.
So, if you’ve made it to the end of this post, maybe you could send over some positive vibes for a great school year. Things may be easy right now, but the fun is yet to come…!
xx, Ana
cuenc{ana} 