La Vida de Señorita Walker

The saying 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone' is loud in my life right now. I've spent the last 9 months of readjusting back to U.S. with a consciousness of the ephemeral element of life. Recently, I woke up on a Monday morning and didn't drive to the high school where'd I'd been filling in as the temporary Spanish teacher like I had been for the past 3 months. It was odd not waking up at 6:02am and then greeting period 1 with a ¡Buenos Días Clase! at the 7:55am bell. For someone who had not abided by a scheduled regimen in a few years, I had adjusted quite well to the role as Señorita Walker.

Señorita Walker found herself 'winging' the majority of her duties as an educator but somehow feeling that at the end of the day, Spanish was infused into the life lessons that effervesced through humorous conversations. She learned much about the dynamics of human interaction in room 105; to match a student's humor with humorous response, or an aggressive comment with a gentle one, or to ignore the incessant annoying banter.

Using the third person for description seems fitting, as I felt I was fulfilling an acting role as a substitute teacher who grew more confident and sassy as the plot developed. Once I knew the names and personalities of mis estudiantes, I was more capable to invest in their life journeys.

In the short time I spent as a teacher, I was reminded of the emphasis of cultivating relationships first, and the education came second; the relevance of being present in the moment and pouring energy into current stories and the people around you.

I'm not going to lie, since returning from the Peace Corps, I've struggled to recognize a sense of depth in my daily work, but I really just needed a new perspective.

Gracias a mis estudiantes por enseñarme algo cada día.

(Thanks to my students for teaching me something every day).

“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson