Birthday & Such

Well, I turned 23 on October 29^th . . . twice because of my location in the world. Turning 23 stretched over a two-day period, explaining the flooding of birthday wishes from my North American friends on the 30^th (the 29th in their timezone).

Another week has passed and the month of November has arrived. I find it surprising that in just two months, 2008 will be over. Feels like just yesterday I finished high school and moving on to my first year in university. My, how time flies when one is not paying attention. Weather speaking, it’s warm during the day and cold during the night. There’s also roving periods of overcast clouds, and minor showers. Because of the warm weather, all the tanning people are out sunbathing. Despite my previous attempts, I still can’t understand the joy of barbecuing oneself with dangerous ultraviolet rays.

The program is coming to a close for the students who began their education studies in January. They are currently scouring NZ newspapers and the internet, searching for employment at secondary schools. So far, one woman got accepted for a math teaching position and a man got accepted for a social studies position. For the mid-year students, such as myself, we can apply at secondary schools and receive employment on the condition that we receive our teaching qualification. Normally, I would choose to wait until I have my qualification, because if I didn't receive it, the school I applied for conditional employment would be thrown into disarray & have to find a replacement. But then again, I can't risk waiting until the very last minute to apply. Life is about taking risks.

The assessments don’t stop when you graduate from the College of Ed. New graduate teachers wishing to start their careers in Middle Earth will be supervised and graded during their first 2 years of professional teaching (and I thought 14 weeks of teaching practice was a lot). If all goes well, you officially become a certified New Zealand teacher. Of course, there are those people who choose to start their careers from their home countries. I’m still unsure whether I’ll stay or immediately fly back to my Canadian homeland.

Aside from that, it’s been pretty much work, work, work. Got to complete all those unit plans before the summer arrives. For a teacher, half your time is spent on preparation and the other half is spent on teaching.