I know I still have a few months left on the race, but I wanted to share some exciting news, at least for me. I have a job. It is funny as while we were in Thailand, a few people were working on updating their resumes and doing some initial job hunting. I contemplated doing those things, but decided I wasn’t going to look for a job until I arrived back in the U.S. I didn’t want to try to be in two places at once or use my free time to look for jobs.
God must have laughed at my thought processes as less than a week later, I was scrambling to fill out job applications, update my resume, request transcripts, you get the picture. Technology is a beautiful thing (along with flexible interviewers) as I was able to interview for a teaching position over skype at 8:30am in the morning a few days after we arrived in Malaysia. It was 7:30pm in South Dakota and because it was voice only I may have been in the most casual interview clothes ever as the heat index that day was already around 100.
This past week, I got an email asking me to call as they had made a decision. Pending school-board approval I am now the Social Studies teacher at Second Chance High School in Mitchell, SD. I know it isn’t the Middle School which is hard, but I am so tickled to be moving back home for so many reasons. As I contemplated finishing the World Race, I wanted a place with stability and Mitchell certainly has that. I am also, with the help of my parents, attempting to bring a young man, Paul, to Mitchell to study this coming year. He is from a single-parent home in Rwanda and one of the sweetest, brightest young people I have had the privilege to encounter. His mom volunteers at the church and they struggle to find money to afford schooling. A few of the guys took care of that for this year, but I see Paul as a young man who can change a community with some assistance. Being back in Mitchell gives me the opportunity to smooth his transition if we can get visa things figured out and to be another resource.
I also love the opportunity to work with at-risk youth. Mitchell has given me so much and it is fun to have the opportunity to give a small amount of that back. To say my family is excited, might be the understatement of the year. I feel so amazingly blessed that as I finish this race I know what is next and it means I will be back in the classroom and gym this coming year. I have missed that this year.
