It's not personal, it's business

As you all know, I have been (super) busy with classes this month. I barely have time to lesson plan much less siesta and fiesta. I start class at 8:30 AM and don't finish until 9:30 PM most days.

However, that craziness will soon dwindle. My intensive class for the First Certificate, which is every day for two hours, will end in a week when my student takes the exam. After that, my schedule will be more than manageable, and I will actually be on the lookout for another class or two to fill in my schedule.

But on top of my surprisingly eventful life as an English teacher, this week I was also faced with a new challenge.

My boss from the English Centre offered me a new class. It is on Mondays and Wednesdays, four hours per week in Castelldefels (a suburb of Barcelona), to start in March. The class is over a lunch break with more young professions with fairly advanced levels. I also get paid extra for making the longer trip.

The problem? The time conflicts with one of my classes from Get English that I've had since January.

My first reaction was to pass on the new class. I thought it was more important to remain loyal to Get English and my students. I didn't want to cause any scheduling problems, let down my boss, or abandon my students. I thought money shouldn't be my priority and there will be other classes that may fit better into my schedule.

However, my boss made a good argument. He pointed out if I didn't take the new class, I would be missing out on a lot more work--that this one hour class is keeping me from three more hours per week at a higher rate of pay. Now, I am aware that he is (apparently desperately) trying to get me to take on this class, but it is still a good point.

I also talked it over with some friends and family which gave me a different perspective. Yes, loyalty can be important, and yes my students may feel a little deserted. But that's sort of the game, isn't it? My bosses and students are well aware that I have no contract with them. English teachers come and go for whatever reason, whether it be personal or business, and that's just the way it goes. Furthermore, while I don't normally consider any of my priorities in life to be money related, especially in regards to my new-found teaching career, I do have to keep it in mind in order to fulfill my other goals. Is "make money" number one on my list of things to do in Spain? No. But 'travel' sure is, and what do I need for that? Exactly. And so my views began to shift and after a little more thought, I decided to take the class.

I realize this whole predicament may seem small and silly to many of you. I had to talk to my boss and let go of one of my classes. Big deal. I almost surely wouldn't be fired for it, and I would be making more money in the end. But for me, it was sort of a big deal. This is really one of the first times in my life that I've had to negotiate for my job. I am fresh out of college, and my previous job experience was mainly with VIP, which was a standard, stress-free, campus job and did not require any "brokering" of this kind. So however small, this step was still significant on my path to learning the businesses of the world.

So at our monthly staff meeting, I met with my boss from Get English and told her that I needed to drop my Wednesday class at the University. I gave her the "it's not personal, it's business" talk (good thing I spent my Christmas in Sicily) and explained the situation. She pushed back a little, but I respectively stuck to my guns. It also helped that I had already found a replacement for me (Mark from Liverpool was looking for some hours and offered to take the class for me) so she didn't need to go through any trouble. In the end, she said "Alright."

And that was the end of that.