a million kajillion things at once

After paying hundreds of dollars to get certified to teach in New York Public Schools, I'm working at Starbucks. Sometimes, I admit that I'm a little embarrassed to tell people, and when new people I meet ask what I do, I tell them about my other job (sometimes).

Going into it, I thought that it would be easy. But waking up at 4:30am every weekday morning, seeing Cyrus for only an hour at night before we have to go to bed, and doing a million kajillion things at once for 6-8 hours straight is pretty stressful! But that's real life, right?

I'm pretty lucky to have what I had this past year: working part-time and spending a whole lot of time each day with Cyrus, even if I was sitting five feet away from him on my computer while he studied. And I'm so thankful that that's how we were able to start our marriage.

And no matter how hard it is not seeing him more than an hour each weeknight, I always remind myself - at least we're not dating long-distance anymore! Seriously, because anything is better than that!

So I work at Starbucks! And it's going okay.

teacher for lyfe

I started my new job as a tutor last night, and it was legendary. I haven't taught or even interacted with kids on a regular basis since June of 2009, and it filled my heart to see this student succeed and be so proud of her work!

Teaching is all I ever remember wanting to do (I made worksheets for my friends when I was six!), but I still had that itch -- I didn't think I'd be able to do it for very long and I desperately wanted to try something else. But now that I feel this immense satisfaction and wholeness after one 60-minute tutoring session, maybe I was right all along. Maybe teaching is something I could do for the rest of my life, or at least for a long while.

failures

I've been thinking a lot about my failures today, thanks to the essay portion of my New York City Public School application. I have to write about a hardship I've encountered in my professional or academic career that I've overcome, how I overcame it, and how I would apply these lessons in the classroom.

So I brainstormed and wrote down the ideas I had, and now I have a full single-spaced typed page of all the professional and academic failures I can remember, and it's making me a little sad!

I want ice cream.

(I wrote this on Thursday evening.)

another interview

Another interview this Friday.

I was lucky enough to find my first real job pretty easily, so my experience with job applications, interviews, cover letters, follow-up, rejection, etc. is pretty limited. So for the past year, looking for a job in Boston has been a pretty daunting task. For me, it's not the economy that scared me. It was the constant selling of myself, playing up my strengths, putting myself out there... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It was horrifying.

By now, after submitting countless applications to companies, stores and school districts that may or may not be in my field, it's become a lot less horrifying. I might even say that it's become ... quotidian (new word!).

So for my interview this Friday, I hope I can muster up the enthusiasm that's been slowly deflating since last year so that I can get this job. (It's a part-time tutoring job here in Cambridge.)

Wish me luck!

new job?

I just applied for a job at the Harvard Coop in Harvard Square, which I just learned is owned by Barnes and Noble. Yay, books!

When I saw their Craigslist ad online, I thought, "How great would it be to have a less-than-10-minute walk to work?" Well, it's 10 minutes more than my commute now (bed to computer), but these days, being in a work environment where I can actually interact with real people is very appealing!

And no, it's definitely not a step up the career ladder, but whatever. It sounds fun, and it's something to do this summer! Keeping my fingers crossed.