Miss Garner

Remember in my very first post how I said I didn't have a job moving up to Fort Wayne (and everyone was asking!!) but would let the world know when I did?? Well. Today is that day.

I AM EMPLOYED! 

I will be teaching 4th grade at North Side Elementary School in Kendallville, IN and I am so excited! Here's how it all went down. 

My daily routine for the past few months was to get online, check the job postings for schools in the area, apply to ANY that applied to me (I think I even applied for a first grade position), and keep my fingers crossed. As the days passed and I was getting no feedback, I came to terms with the fact that I would probably have to substitute for the first year and get my foot in the door that way. And honestly, I was okay with that. I was still holding out a sliver of hope that something permanent would come up, but since my teaching license and certification is still pending, I had a feeling I was not a very desirable candidate. As of last Wednesday, I counted and had applied for 46 positions. And hadn't gotten a single callback. Talk about discouraging.

Then, last Thursday, my luck changed! The day prior, I had gotten word of an anticipated job opening at an elementary school in a school district that I hadn't really even considered. It was a little further away and the thought of filling out one more application was not appealing. My friend Brittney first told me about it because her boyfriend, Matt, is a middle school teacher in that area. He forwarded me the job posting and I noticed that the principal's name and email address were available. Before I started the whole application process, I thought I should just email her and explain my situation (pending certification) to see if she would even consider me. I did just that and waited to hear back. Not 20 minutes later, I got a call from Carolyn (Nick's mom) saying that she passed my resume along to the high school principal in that area. She works for Coca-Cola and one of her customers is the high school. That principal was kind enough to send my resume to the elementary principal. So in the matter of just a couple of hours, this principal got my resume twice so I was feeling a little more hopeful! I didn't hear back from her that day, but on Thursday she called me and asked if I would be able to interview on Monday! I was elated!! Even if I didn't get the job, it was a step in the right direction. 

After a weekend of portfolio building, interview clothes shopping, and constant scenarios and questions running through my mind...Monday came pretty quick! I was surprisingly not very nervous driving into the interview, but when I got into the room and saw FIVE people staring at me with questions ready to be fired off...the nerves settled in. I felt very composed and thought I answered the majority of the questions well, but of course, there were moments when I thought to myself..."Well, that was a dumb answer" or "Did I even answer the question that she just asked me?" The thirty minutes flew by and I politely made my way to the front desk so the secretary could make some copies of my paperwork. About 15 seconds after leaving the room, the principal came back out, asked me to come back in, and said "You're not a criminal, are you?" I adamantly said no and she came back with, "Well, pending your background check and references are good...welcome to North Side!" I was shocked!! I giggled and thanked her profusely and told her how excited I was. Sure, I thought the interview went well and hoped that my chances were good but I would have never expected to be hired on the spot like that. I had to go down to the superintendent's office immediately to start filling out paperwork so I didn't even have a chance to call anyone to tell them. Two hours later, Nick apparently couldn't handle it anymore so he called me and I said, "Sorry, I would have called you sooner but I've been busy signing paperwork because I was hired!" He was ecstatic and that made it really sink in for me. It had been just a whirlwind couple of hours, I didn't really have time to just sit and be excited about it. I spent the whole drive home calling my family and that's when it felt real!

I didn't want to say anything publicly (I didn't want to jinx myself or I was sure something would fall through!) but I went back to the school yesterday and when I saw this...I'd say that's pretty official :)

My classroom! (I love that they put "Miss" hehe)

I got keys to my classroom and the building and got a tour of the school. Everyone I met was so friendly and welcoming and it really eased my mind and made me even more excited. My room is of course pretty bare, but I was relieved to see that the former teacher left a LOT of her posters and manipulatives so at least I will have a place to start! My first official day is Friday and the kids first day is next Wednesday (so soon!).

Champs. Heather Dubrow style. #RHOC

Nick came home that night with flowers and champagne and reservations for Chop's already set up for Tuesday night. He was so thoughtful and kept telling me how proud he was and I genuinely know how excited (and relieved!) he is that I got a near perfect job! We had a beautiful night celebrating last night filled with champagne and martinis at my absolute favorite restaurant in Ft. Wayne. It was perfect and it made me realize all over again how lucky I am to have Nick and his support. 

So. Good. No leftovers for me!

I am so excited for this next chapter in my life and am so thankful for this opportunity! It really is true that it's not what you know, but who you know! Had it not been for Carolyn and Brittney & Matt, I would have never heard about this position. Keep me in your thoughts and wish me luck...I'm going to need it! Even though there will probably definitely be some a lot of stressful tears over these next crazy few weeks, I am feeling very lucky to have a wonderful job! 

Enjoying these next few days before the real world does kick in and figuring out what insurance plan I want (big girl time!)

Until next time :)