Summer is for relaxation...ha!

My first semester of grad school has come to a close. The end of the semester was pretty stressful with projects and papers due. The hard work paid off in the long run. I did very well in all of my classes. Although I didn't get the 4.0 I wanted I did manage to get 3 A's and an A- which is not bad for my first semester as a full time grad students while trying to work as much as possible.

Now that summer is quickly approaching I have a busy summer planned. I am taking 3 math classes this summer. One of them started on Monday and it is a hybrid class, meaning a portion of the class is online and a portion of the class is in the classroom. The first of the three week course is online due to the fact that my professor is in London for her grandmother's 100th birthday. Well this is all well and good she did dump a ridiculous amount of work on myself and my 4 classmates that we were given a poor explanations for and it's all due before she gets back. So the 5 of us are scrambling to understand and put together these projects in order to be successful in the course.

After this course is over I have 2 weeks off before heading to Glacier National Park for a week to visit the park and Sam's sister, Addie. After getting back from Glacier my second and third math classes start up back to back and run pretty much all morning.

Now you may be asking yourself why am I taking 3 summer classes, well it's a great story... When I applied for the masters program last year we had to have a meet and greet with the head of the department, during this meet and greet I asked if there were math classes offered every semester, she smiled and said of course! I went to sign up for my first semester of classes, low and behold, no math classes. I talked to my advisor and he stopped one of the math professors and asked about math classes. She told me that they don't offer math classes in the spring because there is no one to take them. I asked about the summer and she said they usually don't have them in the summer for the same reason, but they will have a course or two in the fall. When I signed up for the program I was told I needed to take 4 math classes in order to successfully complete the program. When I asked my advisor what I should do about math classes he asked me if I lived near: Albany, Binghamton, or Syracuse.

After that entire ordeal the summer schedule came out and there were 2 math classes. Then a few weeks later a 3rd class was added. Naturally I signed up for the classes mostly because when the fall schedule came out, there were no math classes! So if there are no more math classes offered at the school I will have to find a math class to take online from a different school and make sure it is approved by the school, since they don't offer math classes in the spring. Frustration isn't even the word.

Now for something completely different. About a month ago I went to the Teacher Recruitment Day at SUNY Cortland. I interviewed with 6 different schools (not including Howard County, MD). One recruiter really caught my attention and encouraged me to look more into her school district. I interviewed with her and when I got home I looked into the Charleston County School District. The recruiter and I had emails back and forth and she set up 5 different interviews for me at 5 different schools through out the county. All 5 of the interviews went well.

• I enjoyed Haut Gap Middle School and Cario Middle School the most. I got a great feeling from the staff and it felt warm and inviting.
• The three high schools I went to were different and interesting School of the Arts doesn't have the position approved or posted yet so the principal was not very enthusiastic about interviewing with me.
• West Ashley High School was interesting. I interviewed with the principal and then we walked around the school and talked to the head of the math department, I also babysat her class for a few minutes while her and the principal had a little chat in the hallway. That was fun.
• Clark Academy was a great interview but I don't know if I want to work in a school where I have to fight with the kids every day, it would be even harder if Sam is staying here to finish school and take his paramedic.

So right now everything is up in the air. I also interviewed with my old middle school and I don't think that I would take that job over a job in SC. A position in SC would give me a new start in a new place. I think that would be awesome. So we're playing the stressful waiting game that isn't too much fun.

Back to work on the many projects I have due for this class. Then off to MA for the weekend! =)