“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” – Simone de Beauvoir
Change can be sudden. Change can be gradual. Change can positive. Change can be negative. We encounter changes throughout our lives in a multitude of ways. Over a month ago I received exciting news, that I was going to be starting a new adventure at a different high school in September as a drama teacher in an enriched creative arts program. I thought that change was certainly coming my way. I would have been leaving the high school where I started my career and developed as an educator over the past nine years. I would have also been leaving the Philosophy course I admire so much. But I thought that sometimes change is necessary. Change allows for growth and reflection. In my case, I saw change as a fresh start, a new beginning. When the job was posted, I had to follow my heart and apply. Though the change would have been terrifying, I had to take a chance. I knew that if I didn’t take a chance, I would have regretted it. We are naturally creatures of habit, and any change, whether big or small, can be scary due to uncertainty. But change, if anything, is inevitable, and I think that in my case, it was positive because I was in control of the change.
Fast forward to today, and the position I was appointed to is no longer available due to a mountain of issues that I won’t go into detail here. It almost feels strange that I was so excited for the change, and now it’s not coming. It did, however, make me think about change in general. I believe that if we were to embrace change more, we would be able to get more out of it. As I mentioned earlier, I referred to my anticipated change as an adventure. It would have been a new chapter in the book of my life. It wouldn’t have been easy, but if it was, I don’t think I would be able to gain much from the experience. I’m looking forward to teaching grade 10 Canadian History next year, though it isn’t the change I was initially hoping for. I also plan on starting a Philosophy club and I’m passing the torch as teacher facilitator of our school’s Gay-Stright Alliance. Not only that, but I’m moving out of the portable into a new classroom. I definitely plan on making the most of these small changes. There will be some preparation on my part over the summer, but I’m up for the challenge. Time may change me, but I can’t trace time.
Goodbye portable! It’s been swell!
