A state of moratorium

This may sound a little conceited, but I was truly impressed with myself today. After getting 3 hours of sleep last night, today I woke up on time, made it to work on time and prepared for the entire next week. I even stayed after school a little longer. One parent showed up. She checks in on her son's progress periodically. Then a couple of students came in wanting to learn more about the fields of aerospace and mechanical engineering. They want me to find an engineer willing to talk to them about his or her career. Lastly, a student not in any of my classes came in my classroom because she didn't want to do her work. She was in the computer lab outside with her friend that was doing homework. This girl spent about 5 minutes asking me who is in my classes.

Despite the lack of sleep, I think I had a pretty great day. After getting rid of that girl, I started getting ready to leave. Right outside, there was the math leader and the current calculus teacher talking to some students on the open floor. I guess they were asking him what class he was going to teach next year. He jokingly repeated "Algebra I" five times. I guess the students asking him are juniors and they want him to teach calculus. They asked him who was going to teach calculus instead and he said "Mr. Velazquez" pointing at me. "Why?" one student replied. "Because he likes calculus" he answered.

I do like calculus, but this got me thinking about more than just math. What am I going to be doing next year? My original plan was to move back to Holtville after I graduate and get a house. However, many things have changed. Most notably, is the new relationship I am in. There's that and many other factors that will ultimately influence my decision of staying here in SD or moving back.

If I am offered a full-time position at Guajome, I may just go ahead and take it. I like my job there right now. The students are great and the co-workers are very supportive. Another big factor is the ability of my mother to care for my younger siblings while she is on disability. I have a brother in the 9th grade. As a 9th grade teacher, I feel I should be more involved in his academics; especially because he wants to go to UCSD. I also have a brother in the 2nd grade who was in danger of repeating 1st grade last year. Because I watched 3 other siblings grow up, naturally, I want to be there for my youngest brother.

All these things have been racing through my mind for the past month or so. Honestly, I don't know what I am going to do. I wish I could give people a consistent answer. It's frustrating to tell one person one thing and another person something else. I guess I will just have to cross that bridge when I get to it.