The last week (and a half) has been CRAZY.
Here are some things that happened:
1. I moved back from Evart, MI to Central Indiana – and I moved in with my former roommate again 🙂
2. I left SpringHill Camps in Evart early to start a job as a middle school band director in Indiana.
3. I had two days to mentally (and physically) prepare to teach a ton of middle schoolers in a completely new environment.
4. I started teaching. I made it through the first day. It was an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.
5. I made it through the first week. Praise be to the Lord.
6. I made LOTS of mistakes.
Here are some things that didn’t happen:
1. I did not adequately say “goodbye” to the people at SpringHill. (I miss them.)
2. I did not realize the difficulty of teaching until the middle of Day 1. It was not the best timing for that realization.
3. I STILL did not learn the names of all of my students yet. (I AM THE ACTUAL WORST.)
But…
4. I did not completely fail, and that is super great!
Some things that I learned so far:
1. Teaching is SO difficult.
2. Kids can be awful sometimes, but they can be great, too.
3. You can watch things happen for years, and never really understand it until you do it.
That last one is the one that was most difficult for me to come to terms with, and I am still working on it. I will be the first to admit that I am not good at being bad at things. I am not good in situations where I am not excelling, not improving, or not at least seeing where I could improve. I like getting better at things, and it is hard when I can’t.
Watching your teachers in school doesn’t mean that you understand what they’re doing. It doesn’t mean that you get why they’re struggling or what makes them frustrated. You don’t always learn why they do what they do. You don’t feel the joy that they feel when things go right and everyone does what they are supposed to do. Doing the thing is completely different.
We are taught to sympathize and empathize with those around us. I believe that is one of the most loving things you can do for others. Aiming to understand them, that is. God teaches us things in every situation, and I am definitely learning a lot about empathy in this situation.
God understands everything we think, everything we feel, and everything we go through. That is AMAZING. It is something that we are just not capable of, but he does it perfectly. Always. He is there to empathize, teach, and help us grow. I want to be that for other people, to the best of my ability, but first I think that God has to teach me things. He is amazing. Always.
There are some more changes in the countries I’ll be traveling to! I am pumped. Here’s the newest plan:
Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Latvia, Ukraine, Romania, Bosnia, Botswana, South Africa, and Swaziland!
K Hills
Favorite Quote of the Moment: “You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about it’s width and depth.” – Evan Esar
