the end is near

The end. 

These coming weeks will signify the end of many different things. The most obvious is the end of summer, but along with that comes the true end of my first year as a teacher, my first year as a graduate student, and my first year of living in the desert of New Mexico. This is a time of excitement, but I also find that I am just a little bit nervous. I don't think that it matters how many times you have started a new school year, the nerves are still there, and that is good (in my opinion).

With the end come new beginnings. This is what makes the end so exciting. With the end of my first year of teaching, I find that I am bursting with ideas regarding how to make this coming school year better. I want it to be better for me, but also for my students. I want us to grow together, to learn from one another, and to become the best people that we can be. The joy of teaching kindergarten is that I am in an environment where personal growth and change are daily and expected. I am as capable of making mistakes as my students and we are all capable of learning from those mistakes. In one of my grad school texts a teacher was quoted as saying, "We don't make mistakes, we make discoveries." This is what year two of teaching will be all about - my students and I will make discoveries daily.

Beginning my second year of grad school is not nearly as exciting as beginning my second year of teaching. Being a full time teacher and a full time grad student means that free time is almost non-existant. This fall will be a true test of time management as the mister and I have decided to take on three classes so that we do not have a full summer of classes next year (it was not the most enjoyable thing to have grad work lurking in the back of my mind while out adventuring this summer). With that being said, I am excited about two of the professors that I will have this fall and am always excited about learning new things that I can apply to my practice, so I say, "Bring it on!"

The end of our first year/beginning of our second year of living in the desert is also exciting. We have learned many things about being desert dwellers, have explored endless nooks and crannies in the area, and have grown to love respect the desolation that surrounds us. The cooler temperatures and occasional snowfall in the winter gives way to beautiful wildflowers along sandy trails in the spring. The end of summer monsoon season brings life back into the juniper and sagebrush. The contrast of green agains the red rocks that surrounds us is stunning. This coming year we will know what to look for, where to explore, and keep our ears open for new adventures.

Perhaps the only end that I am sad to see come (or rather, has come already) is that of summer. I was fortunate to embark on a 32-day road trip with my mister through Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah this summer and am already missing days on the trails, adventurous pursuits through caves and up sticky granite rock faces, moonlit hikes, and nights spent in the tent. Of course, if that adventure had not come to an end, this new one would not be about to commence. 

The beginning.