Work Smart, Not Hard

It’s official…I have my North Carolina license, am registered to vote in the Old North State, and have a coffee table in my living room—all very important indicators of my newfound adulthood. I did always say that the day I get a coffee table is the day I’ll know I’ve arrived. Although I must say it’s my housemate’s coffee table, so I’m not sure if that counts. But I think the other two are sufficient. As if I didn’t already feel grown up living in my own place that doesn’t require me to wear shower shoes or drag my laundry across campus. And certainly making my first bill and rent payments made it feel real. But now, it feels like things have really settled into place; now that I have somewhere to prop my feet when I sit on the sofa, that is.

My fourth roommate, Lauren, is finally all moved in. She’s been sleeping on the futon in the sunroom and living out of a suitcase since her parents couldn’t make the 10 hour drive until this past weekend. Her dad spent Sunday through Wednesday helping her unload boxes, set up her room, and making us dinner. He left this morning, as we headed out for our first day of New Teacher Orientation. Which may as well be called New Teacher Bore-ientation (whoa, that one came out of nowhere. So punny.). But seriously, it was almost unbearably inefficient, with too much time allotted to topics that could have been easily summed up in 20 minutes, and breezing through the important things like policies and procedures of the county. We were well-fed though, and by the time we left I was stuffed to the brim with Subway sandwiches, juice, candy, and crackers.

When I got home, I immediately pursued the one item on my to-do list that has caused me the most frustration in the past few days: obtaining my North Carolina driver’s license. Monday, on our day off, I woke up early and decided it would be my “Big Goal” of the day to cram for the written test and go to the DMV to get it over with. (side notes: 1. We often jokingly throw TFA terms, like “Big Goal”, into everyday conversation. Although it’s turning less into a joke and more into a lifestyle. 2. We have to register with the DMV by the end of August to get in-state tuition on our teacher licensure courses we’re taking through ECU. Otherwise, I would have avoided the DMV and this process like the plague.) After a rather unpleasant encounter with one of the officers, including having to return home to grab a more legitimate proof of residency and get back in line, I proceeded to fail the written test. After telling him in a less-than-friendly tone that I didn’t need a book to study. The questions that I missed, though, had nothing to do with actually driving. In fact, the test is pretty common sense when you’ve been driving long enough. On most of the questions I could make educated guesses. Rather, the questions I missed asked statistics about deaths in automobile accidents, what a leaky exhaust means, and other irrelevant topics. Needless to say, I was embarrassed when the officer asked me in front of everyone in the office whether I passed or not.

Today, I am reminded of a very important lesson I learned over and over again at TFA and our district professional development sessions: work smart, not hard. Yesterday, I spent two hours torturing myself with the North Carolina DMV handbook, trying to cram all of the information into my head. Today, I spent two minutes Googling “most missed questions on the NC driver’s test”, 10 minutes scanning a list of at least 75 questions and answers from the drivers test cheat sheet, and 7 minutes acing the test at the DMV. If only I had thought about it the first time…

On top of being a resident of North Carolina, I am also a teacher. Krista and I drove to our middle school on Monday (a 22 minute drive, mostly on 95 South—not bad!), where our principal greeted us at the door with a friendly, “Welcome home.” I immediately felt the weight of her words, and have never felt more sure about where I’m supposed to be than in that moment. It just sounded right, and it felt right running through my mind. Our math instructional coach also took time out of his day off to meet us up at the school, which was apparent by his casual dress—basketball shorts and a tee-shirt on a man I’ve just seen in a suit and tie the past 5 days. We got a tour of the school, a brand new building that we share with the elementary school, and even got to see our rooms. I was not prepared for how beautiful, open, and organized our rooms would be, and I think my jaw hit the floor when the principal opened the door to my new room, A410. It’s huge, with one wall covered entirely in windows (bright!), the back wall completely covered in drawers/cabinets/cubbies (a dream come true), and a Smart Board. It won’t feel so huge when I get enough desks in there and 25 twelve year olds running around, but it is beautiful nonetheless. I’m pretty sure my reaction was pretty entertaining, because my principal got a good laugh and proceeded to tell the next two teachers we saw how I freaked out over the cabinets. Which I did. So much space to be organized, I cannot even wait. It was surreal to think that in a little over two weeks, I’ll be standing in front of that very room, staring at the faces of my 7^th grade babies. I get so excited when I think about it that I can hardly contain myself.

This year is sure to present its fair share of challenges. In fact, I think it will present more than its fair share. But I have never felt so sure about something in my whole life. That doesn’t mean I’m going to love every minute of it, or that I’ll feel this confident everyday for the next year. And it certainly doesn’t mean I’ll be completely successful. It does mean that I can move in faith everyday because I know that this is what God’s will is, and that even the rough days will be worth it. I can trust the He’s using it for something. Even the days when I can’t see the fruits of my labor, or there are no fruits, I will keep on planting, sowing, raking, whatever I need to do, for these kids and for the One who has called me to this beautiful place. How did I get so lucky?