The time has come

I have been holding off on sharing this news for a while, but the time has come, I think, for me to put it out there.

I have lost my job.

I knew it was likely. I was 99% sure it was going to happen. I was not at all surprised when the letter came. But it still sucks.

150 people were laid off from my district, 13 in my building alone. They will be running bare bones next year - no drama, no art, only half time choir and slightly more than half time foreign languages. Computers and band appear to remain unaffected, and we don't know about orchestra yet since our orchestra teacher just took a position in another district.

It is not looking good. I applied for a position outside of public ed. I recently found out there were 90 applicants and I made it to the top 10. I had two phone interviews but did not make it to the next round, the top 3. Currently there are 2 teaching positions in the state for which I am qualified. Yes, you read that right. Two. Both requiring that I move and Ricky stay here and we live apart.

At this point, we figure if I can't find a job I will sub and draw unemployment. I found out I can draw unemployment anytime I can't get sub jobs, so that will be great for Christmas and Spring vacations. It also means we'll be able to relax a little bit on those weeks when the jobs are few and far between.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I go through moments of hopelessness, and then come back to seeing the bright side of it all (no more dealing with parents, no more grading, no lesson planning, I can take days off when I feel like it). Ideally, of course, I'd find another job - not just because of the salary, but because I love what I do and after having my own classroom with my own kids, it's going to be so hard to go back to seeing different kids every day and not having the relationship with them. Right now, though, in an effort to not fall into total despair I'm choosing to focus on the positive and enjoy my summer!