A new beginning

I am in the midst of moving to a new college, which is a good thing for a number of reasons. Primarily, it will allow me to continue teaching as I can adequately provide for my family with this new position--benefits, decent enough pay, and so forth. Beyond that, however, I am excited to be starting at the new college as it is the district I grew up in. I tell people it's a kind of homecoming. My feelings on "coming home," however, I must confess, are mixed. I am comforted on the one hand as it is not an entirely unfamiliar place. I am anxious on the other for reasons I cannot entirely explain. The institution is quite large compared to where I am coming from. I feel very much like a small fish in an overwhelming sea. I hope I can swim with rest.

This week is orientation. We've only completed day two of the five days of orientation and already my head is spinning. While I'm a little stressed with it all, I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom, which is where I expect (and hope) to feel most comfortable with it all. The highlight thus far for this week was a chance run-in I had with one of my students. Strangely it was comforting to meet a student. She was friendly and enthused. I hope that meeting proves to be an accurate indication of what's to come with all my students. Well, off to more orientation now.