Sharks

So there's been some bittersweet news here in the past few weeks. The sweet, exciting news is that I will start a new job at the beginning of next school year. I'm transferring within my school district to a high school. I am going to be a Colgan Shark! This of course means the sad news is that I am leaving Bennett, my home away from home for twelve(!) years. It's pretty crazy to even write this post because I love Bennett, my colleagues, and the community so much. Soooo let me explain. 

For a few years I have been considering a move to secondary counseling. I just felt like everything was always the same. I never really had a teammate because typically there is only one counselor (and a part-time counselor a few days a week) in an elementary school. It's a lot to be the only person. I was just ready for a change of pace. The past few years, I went on interviews, and told myself I would only move for the ideal situation. This year I saw an opening for a high school and I applied on a little bit of a whim, thinking they would never even interview a elementary person. Well I about fell out of my chair when they called for an interview. Then I went on the interview and felt good about it. Now I was torn because this year I've also hit the jackpot and been riding the waves of school counseling with a full time perfect teammate for me. Finally, my stars aligned and now I am leaving them! But my stars have also aligned going the other direction, and I am so excited about the school and team I am transferring too. I am also excited about a total change of pace, working with the opposite end of the K-12 spectrum. 

I feel so lucky to have been hired for my first ever real job at Bennett. I have learned so much from the incredible teachers and staff, and of course my students and their families. It's crazy to think I was 24 when I rolled in there knowing next to nothing about the real life of a public school employee. I knew not a single person (for the most part) when I moved here, and the staff at Bennett have become a work family, the best of friends, and they make work easier to come to each day. I don't think there is another place like Bennett. Truly. 

Being offered this job a few weeks into a pandemic has also just been the weirdest. I will never get a goodbye at Bennett and I don't really feel like I get to finish it out the way I wanted. I didn't get to tell anyone my news in person, also making it weird to text or email this news everyone mid Spring Break. It's also weird to think I'll just be kinda dropping off the scene after 12 years. But everything about life is weird right now, so why not just add this to it. Maybe the pandemic is prepping me for life in the Shark Tank.