Friday, November 19, 2010

On studying...

I suck at studying. A lot. It's part of the reason that it took me 7.5 years to graduate with a four year degree (also because I had five different majors, some for several semesters before changing, but that's a topic for another day). I don't like it when I don't just "know" things. I know, stupid, right? No one just knows stuff without learning it, but it's the things that I'm bad at that make me nuts. Like math. Which my sister in law will tell you (and she's probably right, she was a math teacher and has a degree in the nasty stuff) I am not that bad at. Unfortunately, I have a MAJOR mental block against it. Therefore...you know the rest.

So back to the title of this little tale. Tomorrow I'm taking a test. A pretty important one. Maybe life changing. No, I'm not taking a pregnancy test, it's a teacher certification test for the state of Oklahoma. Before we moved to Tulsa, I talked a lot about getting certified to teach. In Texas. Where they make it relatively easy to get an alternative certification. I didn't think I wanted to teach, and it seemed like (and still does) everyone I knew that taught had it in their blood. Like their moms were teachers, or dads, or everyone they knew, or whatever. Now, my grandfather taught at Texas A & M (GIG EM, AGS!), but he's the only teacher in my family. Period. So I didn't want to.

Now I'm in another job that I'm not sure about, making less money than I'd like to (I know, teaching doesn't pay a lot, but still), and so about three months ago I decided to go for it. The test wasn't that expensive (I should say tests, there are two), and I figured, what the heck, if I hate teaching, then I'll just stop doing it. No biggie, right? Then I started thinking about every job I've ever had and how I always ended up being a trainer. Sometimes before I felt like I really knew what I was doing. And that's teaching, even if part of the reason I did it was for trainers' pay. And I didn't always mind it (now, on a busy Friday night in a restaurant I hated it, but pretty much any other time it was ok).

So everyday for three months I've studied during my lunch break. I feel about as prepared as I can be. I'm going to study some more tonight after my parents get here to watch Hailey, and tomorrow morning at 7:15 (ouch), I'll be signing in at East Central High school in Tulsa. I guess at this point, please say a prayer, wish me luck, whatever it is that you do...And don't be offended if you're a good friend and you didn't know, I didn't tell many people.