It's the end of the world, as I know it. And I feel fine(ish).

This is my last week of finals. Hopefully ever. Who knows what the future has in store for me, but I don't feel like I'll be heading back to do a graduate program any time in the near future. This marks the end of an era. My college era. These are the last finals I will take. The last essays I will make up. I would expect a greater feeling a relief to accompany such a momentous occasion  but I am not feeling any such thing. Perhaps it is because I still have 5 finals in between me and the end. Or perhaps it is because as a future teacher, I understand that my work will never really be done. There will always be a lesson or unit to be planned. There will always be papers to grade. There will always be deadlines. And then just when I think I've gotten things under control, life will change again, and I will start all over. Such is the circle of life though, eh?

This semester really has been great. I feel 100% more confident about being a teacher than I did when I first started my teaching classes (which doesn't mean that I am 100% confident  just 100% more confident, which may not add up, but math really isn't my forte.) I am excited to enter the world of public education once again, and excited to apply the things I have been taught, and the things I will discover, to the situations I will teach in. Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned in the past year is that as a teacher, I am not teaching English, I am teaching people. People come first. If the subject matter is placed above the people, they are far less likely to learn. But when the focus is on the students and their individual needs, learning can happen. Relevance is one of the greatest tools available to helping students learn.

In other news, I went to the dentist today to have a cavity filled. It was my first time doing this without my mom there to help me be brave. I wasn't very brave, but at least I didn't bite, or cry, or pass out. I didn't smile at all either, and I wasn't particularly friendly, but I hope the dentist people understand. I was trying not to let anxiety overtake my body and cause me to convulse in the chair and foam (even more) at the mouth. For some reason, having people poking me with needles, drilling, clamping with giant pliers, and using other torture devices on my mouth has always been a source of great anxiety for me. I don't know if this is something I will ever overcome.