Back to school shopping. Fearing yet being excited for the first day of class. A restless night of sleep in anticipation of a fresh school year. I know these feelings all too well. Why you ask? Because for the last 32 years I have felt them. For the last 32 years I have gone “back to school”. To break it down, I was a student for 18 years of my life (not including the 2 year Masters I finished while teaching full-time) and have been Miss Chong, Spanish / French teacher extraordinaire for the last 14. This school year marks my fifteenth year as a high school teacher and for the first time since I can remember I am not going back to school. The feeling is bizarre. Part of me feels lost, anxious, and nervous since school life makes up a huge part of who I am. Another part of me is happy because I have achieved one of my biggest life goals of being a mother and I get to spend a large part of this year with her. Nevertheless this 2019/2020 year will be full of firsts for me. I’ll probably be kept even busier. Regardless, school life, my students, and close colleagues all pull at my heart strings and I already miss them. As I did when I left for my mat leave in April, I will wonder how they are, what they’re up to, and secretly if they miss me or even notice that I’m gone. Am I sounding odd or can someone relate? Just as everyone has been warning me about, time with my daughter will and has been zooming by. Before I know it, it will be back to work for me so I should remind myself to cherish every moment I can at home with my baby. Life zooms by fast just as the last 32 years of school have so this year I promise to soak my maternity leave in and enjoy the ride before it’s over and I’m sobbing because I don’t want to go back. Ha!
