An Interview!

I got an e-mail from a school I hadn't even applied to. They wanted a .5 RLA teacher. Their other interviewees had found the area too rural. They had a 9/10 English class, an 11/12 English class, Drama and yearbook/journalism classes available. How 4 classes counted as .5 I have no idea. Most of the schools I'd heard of before had 6 periods a day. I'd make 18,000 a year with benefits. All this was in the e-mail they sent me. I read desperation between the lines. I almost said no! I was looking for a full-time job.

Mom said I should agree to the interview, at least for practice.


...Then I started looking up apartments in the area. They were affordable, but not on the salary they were offering. I wondered if they were desperate enough to offer more periods.

The e-mail suggested I research the area before agreeing to an interview.

I drove out on Sunday with my mom and a friend. After 3.5 hours of driving on highways, freeways, and state roads that became more and more rural the further away we got, we found the address. There was a gas station next to an empty barn surrounded by a chain-link fence. The fence had a faded poster on it with the name of the school. There were four portable buildings behind the barn, and an old fire engine parked outside the fence.

As far as the eye could see: ranches.

The closest place to live was 35 minutes away. However, on a Sunday, none of the apartment offices were open.

I interviewed on Wednesday and, after getting lost on my way home, I got a phone call offering me the position, with two extra periods.

I started the following Tuesday.

A weekend of hectic packing, multiple people frantically searching for apartments and hotels with weekly rates, and I trying to create lesson plans without any curriculum, books, or time...

I lived in a hotel for a week and found an apartment last minute, without looking. My daily commute is an hour, each way. But hey, there's no traffic!