Hello everyone!! It feels great to be back after taking a few months away. In September I started a new job. During my first month of employment, I was able to post on a regular basis. Unfortunately, by October, I had to pause working on the blog to get better adjusted to my new role. Even though I wasn’t able to dedicate my time to the blog, it was still in my heart to resume blogging. The last four months have been both rewarding and challenging, to say the least. My current role has stretched my capacity to be able to endure work challenges while battling the cycle of grief. In the midst of learning my job role and becoming acquainted with my coworkers oftentimes, I was overwhelmed with grief and loneliness. There would be times after work that I desired to share the details of my day with my mom. But I couldn’t. I battled the loneliness of not being able to share this new chapter in my life with her. I knew there would be so much we could discuss. In my formative years, my mom worked as a fourth grade teacher. And now here I was, working in an elementary school just in a different capacity. My mom and I shared a deep desire to work with children. That desire led me to work in child care rather than becoming a teacher.
I always admired my mom’s work ethic and how she was passionate about her career in the education system. She put her all in everything she did. I, too, hoped to give my best to my career in child care. For me, I envisioned my job as an opportunity to positively impact the lives of the next generation of students. While teachers are instrumental in teaching students so they can learn and grow, my goal was to provide genuine care for each student I interacted with. I learned early on that some students are more difficult to deal with than others. And with that being said, it requires a greater level of patience while engaging with them.
All of this is what I longed to share with my mom. I knew she would understand the complexities of working with children. It is not for the faint of heart. While it is meaningful and necessary, it takes time and effort to learn the students entrusted in your care. And, at 5 months on the job, I have learned to make adjustments for the benefit of the students.
These few months have served as a mirror highlighting the areas that I need to work on within myself and how I can better handle certain situations. It has shown me that there is always room for improvement. As long as I have breath in my body, I am still learning, maturing, and becoming who Yah has called me to be. This career has caused me to reflect on how I present myself on a daily basis. When I’m at work, I have to consider, do I think more about representing my company well or my Father? When I have a rough day, is my character like my Father, or is it the complete opposite? Over the past few months, the question of “Who Do I Represent?” has weighed on me. Not only do I have to consider that in the work environment, I have to consider it when interacting with family, friends, and even strangers.
So, for the next few weeks, I want to discuss how we represent ourselves at work and/or school, with our family, our friends, and lastly, with strangers. In our discussion, we will examine if we truly are representing our Father or ourselves and our own personal agenda.
