My First Goodbye

Today on this leap day of 2012, the Month of Molly is one day longer (huzzah!).
But for me, it's actually a rather sad day. Today, I said goodbye to the first class I ever taught.

I walked slowly through the UPC campus, thinking about what I would say, how they may react, and overall dreading the experience (was that too dramatic?). At the start of class, I tried to let them down easy.

Mary and Javier weren't mad. They didn't scold me or even ask why I had to leave them. Instead, they were just...sad, and disappointed, which I think is far worse.

We finished out our last class on the Past Simple, and they wished me luck in my endeavors. Mary told me to have fun with Jon when he comes to visit, and then asked if the next teacher is good looking. "Oh yes, Mark from Liverpool is quite handsome." She winked, smiled, and they were out the door.

I took one more look at my first classroom and headed downstairs for my (last) usual lunch in the school's cafeteria. I thought about that first day--how nervous I was, how prepared I came (I had brought three different lesson plans, just in case!). And I remembered how Jon had come with me for moral support, and we ate lunch together in that very cafeteria on my first day of school. Less than two months had passed, but it seemed much longer. I had only taught a handful of classes with Mary and Javier, but I had already developed a relationship with them. They had been part of my routine. And I am a girl who likes a good routine.

And so it was with a surprisingly sad face that I left the campus. And another thought occurred to me: If I am this sad now, after less than 2 months with a class, how will I handle quitting after almost an entire semester? But that was too much to consider at the moment. So I bid farewell to my Wednesday class at UPC, and moved on.