Similarities and Differences

First Day

Friday, August 18

Any first day on the job is scary. Ya know, the feeling when you can't eat breakfast because you're so nervous? That was me this morning. I wasn't just scared, I was terrified. I had no idea what to expect.

When I walked in the building this morning, I went straight to my classroom because I was about half an hour early. I didn't wanna be late on my first day. 

All teachers were told to meet in the cafeteria at eight. Over the summer, I went to a teacher leadership program, and all five new incoming teachers had to go to that conference. It was a really cool thing, and I got pretty close to Neil. We've both been so busy though, and haven't seen each other since that week because he just moved to town last week. We've kept in touch though.

Neil saw me as I walked into the cafeteria. All the teachers met on the side with the overhead projector, which was on the other side of the entrance. Neil waved to me, and luckily, I had an empty seat next to me. 

"Hey! How's it going, man?" he asked, very happy to see me. 

I smiled a little. "Well, pretty good. How about yourself?"

"So ready. I'm so excited for school to actually start."

I nodded slightly. He graduated in this district, so he knows about what to expect.

"Yeah, I feel ya." I want school to actually start, so I can actually know what I'm dealing with.

I caught up with him until another new teacher, Julie, came over and sat by me. I had met her at the program. She just got married over the summer, and her husband has a really good job here in town, so that's why she's here. We all started talking until Jen, the prinipal and my aunt, started talking. All morning, we had meetings. We broke for lunch, and I went back to my classroom because I had brought my own lunch. 

Jen came into my room. I looked up at her as she said, "What do you think so far?"

I stared at my computer screen, almost trying to look busy. "Meetings are boring."

She sat on a student's desk that was closest to my desk. "I know, but you don't have a choice." I shrugged a little, not knowing what to say. "You miss Alabama?"

I bit my lip, and risked meeting her eyes. My relationship with Jen has never been great, honestly. I don't think she likes me. I don't understand why she hired me. "Well, at least I knew what to expect there."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's so...advanced here." I chuckled a little.

"It's really not." She looked amused. "You just came from a very poor school."

I stared right at her. "Hey, now..." I mean, yeah, it's true, but still. That's kind of rude.

"It's no secret that you came from a very poor town."

I swallowed back a snarky response to her ignorance. "I know," I said pressing my lips together. 

She gave me a smile before standing up. "Well, now you're here. Make sure you live up to this district's expectations though." 

I crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair. "Are you afraid I'm going to embarrass you?" I said it like a joke, but I was serious. 

She sighed a little. "You honestly probably don't deserve this good of a job, and you know it." I couldn't tell if she was serious or giving me a hard time. She's not really one to give me a hard time. She's just kind of a jerk in general.

See why I don't like her?

"I thought you said that you hired me because I was worthy of it."

"Mike said that." Mike is her husband, my uncle.

I took in a deep breath. "Ma'am, you really like underestimating people who don't come from as good of a background as you, don't you?" I swallowed. "Maybe you and I should sit down sometime, and maybe you'd learn something from me. Just maybe." 

She pressed her lips together. "I'm just saying." Then she walked out.

It would be one thing if I had done something wrong, but this just doesn't make sense. Her husband has been nothing but kind to me, but she's just nasty. She reminds me of an insecure middle school girl who thinks that putting people down will make her feel better.