Two Years

Two years ago today, I began working at Guam CEDDERS. I traded my classroom teacher job for an office job. Say what?? If you had asked my friends if I would ever leave teaching two years ago, they would have all looked at you funny and said, "Heck no!" I'm really not big on change.  

In the last two years, I've:

• traveled 127,000+ miles
• visited Washington D.C., North Carolina, Rhode Island, Indiana, and Hawaii
• had the opportunity to see a college friend when I went to Providence
• gotten up before the sun to listen in on webinars and conference calls
• occupied two different offices
• made eleventy billion power point presentations, not to mention actually presenting them
• read thousands of pages of research and whatnot
• planned three big training events with off-island consultants
• made connections with people all over the U.S.
• been consulted about numerous things (I still can't believe people actually call me for my opinion on something.)

Of course, I've done way more than the list above. My brain is constantly in overdrive. Too much information in there that sometimes I forget to do things like refill my water bottle or what I went looking for when I stepped out of my office (I still need some paper clips). 

It's been an adventure. Don't get me wrong. It isn't always sunshine and roses. I've worked before 8am and after 5pm, on weekends and holidays, on vacation and even when I'm home sick. There are days when my co-workers irritate me (thank goodness I have an office door that closes), my boss is gone and I'm in charge, and all I want to do is crawl under my desk and take a nap. It's stressful, yes. I won't kid you about that. There are a lot more time-sensitive deadlines that I have to meet. But, it all challenges me to think outside the box, to prioritize my work, to meet new people, to dig a little deeper. 

Would I go back to the classroom? The jury is still out on that one. My job is still fun for me. I haven't started dreading waking up in the morning or starting the day looking forward to 5pm. 







So, here's to another year of amazement! Which reminds me...I haven't signed my new contract...and I still need to fill my water bottle!