Memories in Green

So I spent the entire day at the double V at an academic meet. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to attend one of these little gems, let me explain. For coaches, it means you have to keep up with gads of entry forms, kids, and meet results. It's similar to a track meet in that there are different events happening concurrently and results trickle in throughout the day. One can kill five hours in what feels like a matter of minutes. However, when it hits about 3 or 4pm, and the momentum is wearing off and the kids have finished their events, it is easy to crash and burn.

Since the meet was held at my old stomping grounds, I had loads of time to reflect upon my two years there. I walked around and looked at all of my old haunts- my classroom, the workroom, and the coaches' office. I see my tenure at the double V with a mixture of disappointment and frustration. However, it was there that I felt I was making the most difference. I attribute this to teaching junior high kids, though, and not with the institution. I couldn't believe how many of the kids remembered me, and it was great to see how much some of them have grown up over the years. I felt like a proud parent of sorts.

Sometimes it's hard looking back, though- remembering mistakes, remembering difficult times, remembering stupid choices. However, while pulling out of my old parking space, I left feeling surprisingly at peace with things. I'm not the same person I was when I was there; I like to think that I'm a better one. Despite the academic meet exhaustion, I felt good to be in motion and felt even better that I'm no longer there.