A Day in the Life Of

It seems there has been a great deal of speculation on what a day in my life looks like. Some probably envision me naturally awaking in a bed of rose pedals, well rested and relaxed, and sauntering through my day. Others may envision waking from restless nightmares to the most annoying sound conceived by man, only to race through my day swelled with stress and fear. To both of these opinions I would say, "not exactly". There have been many restless nights, and much racing, but there has also been some more relaxed and healthy aspects of my life the past four months. Instead of writing of all the trials and struggles, or lack thereof, i'll take you through an average day in the life of, and let you decide for yourself.

My first alarm is set to fire off at 4:30 am. Often I am not woken by the first or second one, but I am usually at least awake by 4:45 am. Once awake, I enjoy a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and spend some time in the Holy Scriptures. I've been reading through the Psalms in the mornings, and it has been a source of great delight and encouragement in my daily struggles. I usually finish this routine by 5:30am which is when I either go to work out at a local gym, or finish up work for the day ahead. I try to arrive at school around 6:45 am. I go to the office to clock in, then come back to my room to set up the classroom for my first period trig class. My time and peace in the room is usually very nice in a "calm before the storm" kind of way. It's a time to email, to plan, and to think about the most effective ways of communicating with my students. Around 7:30 am, I report to the gym which is where all the students congregate before school. Once 7:40 am rolls around, our principal releases students from the gym, class by class. Consequently we are usually in my room with class started by 7:45 am.

Each class is 50 minutes long. I have two sections of Trig/Pre-calc, Advanced Seminar (homeroom), followed by one section of Geometry. After that Geometry class, I have my planning period, followed by three more sections of Geometry. As I've mentioned, each class has it's own personality, so that really regulates the demeanor at any given time of day. Seventh period on a Friday is usually much more upbeat than first period on a Tuesday, so every day is special in its own unique way.

School releases at 3:30 pm. Now that I am not coaching anymore, I am trying to find a routine after school. While football was in season, I would be at practice until 6:30 or 7 every night, then back in my until 8:30 or 9 pm. Now that football is over, though, I find that space of time suddenly freed. I stay in my classroom and work for another several hours and am usually able to leave by 5:30 pm. This still feels freakishly early, but I'm sure i'll be able to get the hang of it right when I get to go back to football.

After school I usually head home or work out if I didn't get to that morning. When home, there is usually more lesson planning, grading, or reading that needs to take place, and I usually put things down by 8:30 pm. 8:30 and on is time for me to talk with people I love, and remember that there is a great big world outside of my own small community. If I'm asleep by 10 pm I'm lucky, usually it falls closer to 10:30 or 11. 4:3o am then rolls around again, as does another opportunity to love and serve the students of (Not gonna say) High School. Sleeping in a bed of rose pedals isn't easy, but I guess someone has to do it.