Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes....

I sent the school coordinator an email last week to confirm the hours/classes she wanted me for next session, which starts 5 March. In addition to technique classes, i've taught a lab class and supervised student clinics, but with 2 different groups in session, scheduling can get a little zooey.

On Monday, she came to me with a distraught look (during my class break, no less) and told me she had given the lab class to a new hire, and that she didn't have me down for any student clinics either.

So i am going from 12 hrs/wk to 0 hrs/wk, effective end of the month. My paycheck is going to plummet! I will still be getting paid for my 2 weekly shifts in the professional clinic, so it won't disappear altogether--but it's gonna be a lot less.

I told her i could no longer even TA for technique classes in the future, as they simply take too much out of me; and that, as such, i thought i needed to find another job that is less erratic.

At the next break i told the lead teacher about it (still feeling shakey) and her response was so great: "Maybe it's time for you to move on--like to Minnesota?!"

I hadn't even thought about the liberating aspect of the situation. In the short term, it also means that for the last weeks of Chris' visit, i'll have a lot more time to share with him, and a lot better attitude.

Teaching is difficult for me. I take stuff way too personally, and with the technique classes meeting for 2 4-hr sessions/week, get way too involved with the drama of the student body. It's never been easy for me, but i thought i should try to work through it.

I know i've helped the school in a lot of ways--pinch-hitting for whatever class they needed coverage for over the past couple of years. In return, i've gotten a first-class re-education! Both parties have benefitted, and now it's time for me to move on. (Interestingly enough, 3 lead instructors are also leaving as of this session--2 technique teachers and 1 anatomy teacher. One of them is moving away, and the other 2 are just 'done.') So in the grand scheme of things, it's part of the ongoing development of the school....sloughing off the old, taking on the new.

Now is the time i mentioned in a recent post, about getting my act together as far as private clients goes. The school paycheck has been good, but also my schedule changed every 2 months (rather catastrophically in this current case) and i had to simply juggle everything else around it.

Or perhaps i'll just take on a few hours doing something NOT massage-related! I'm ready for a part-time job that doesn't need my blood, sweat and tears (i have actually cried from frustration this last session, a couple of times)--just my abilities and presence.

It's still feeling a little weird--i'm going in this morning to test the class for their practical final--but on the other hand, i am actually relieved to let go of a poor fit.

Onward and upward!