Ah, so I am to be employed. Well, yes I did complete a two year master's program in Natural Resources & Environment. I was hoping to be employed in that field, with a focus on working with people and education, but those options are a bit limited given the economic situation and just being in the Bay Area. But the options are not wholly closed for the future! Point is, right now I needed a job and I have experience in education. So I found a teaching position!

Now, I have to admit I was getting worried because education jobs are difficult to come by here EVEN though teachers are supposed to be in high demand. Anyways, I won't get into that because I want to quickly mention the two options I had in terms of employment.

After a month of craziness sending out all sorts of applications, I had a response to a position at a public charter school in Oakland. Nothing had really come up and they asked me for an interview, so I jumped at the chance because they looked like a really good school (and they are!). So I made the drive up there and was interviewed by students and staff, got to walk around and check out the place. I was really impressed and liked it overall. I was invited for a lesson plan demonstration the following day and that went really well too. The students were kind enough to give me the opportunity to show what I could do. The weekend came up with a tentative offer. I wasn't sure whether to just take it because I had no other offers even though it was a pretty good deal.

Unbeknown to me, I had received an e-mail during the weekend for another position. I did not have e-mail at home so I did not find out until that Monday and I rushed over to be interviewed. That one went really well and I was impressed by the school. Bunch of other stuff happened...but the point was that I now had two offers and they were both good, hard to compare because I felt they were like apples and oranges. See, the first one was a public charter school. The second one was a private prep school, BUT they both served underserved students, particularly Latinos, most of which are first to go to college.

So I did go through a deliberate process and received some very insightful feedback from friends. I did not want to feel like a sell-out for taking the second offer, it being a private school. I know I was needed at the first school, and the principal and students there worked hard to try to have me be there...but the second school also made me feel like a million bucks. Well, of course it feels good to feel wanted. I mean, they really built me up, making me sound all awesome!

I chose the second one for a variety of reasons, none of which was because the first school was not a good choice. But the first school allowed me to be closer to my sweetie (at least for the time being until she heads off to graduate school...but that is to be another tale) and it was a slightly new experience. I have given much of myself to helping low-income school, so that I do not regret and it is something I will continue to do.

Anyhoo, I will be teaching US History and Spanish at the Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, you know, making the big bucks.

We'll see how it goes...adventure is out there! (have you seen that movie? you really should)