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Teaching Days
Autobiography Home Elementary Days Middle School Days College Days
In August of 1997, I graduated from Central Michigan University with a degree in Business Administration. I had a double-major in Management Information Systems and Office Systems Administration. I moved home and started substitute teaching. I needed some extra cash until November, when I would be getting married. After the wedding, my husband and I moved to Bay City, where I anticipated finding a job in my degree. I thought that I wouldn’t have a problem finding a job; I had a strong desire to train individuals on software programs. I was wrong. It ended up that I found a job doing what I wanted to, but it was only part-time. I wanted more than that. So, I began substitute teaching again.
In the midst of trying to get a job and get through my first year of marriage, things came to a halting screech when I found out my grandpa had died. The following day I received a phone call from my mom saying that my other grandpa had died. I had never experienced anyone in my family dying before, and here were two people that I had lost in less than 48 hours.
Click here to read a tribute to my grandpa
In March of 1998, we found out that my husband had the opportunity to take a position in the town that I am from. Seven months after I had moved to Bay City, I was moving home again! I was very excited. I anticipated finding a job in that area. Once again, I was wrong. I started substitute teaching again, beginning to wonder if I chose the wrong career path in college. I quickly put that thought aside, knowing that I had had enough of exams, professors, and wild parties. There was no way I was going back to school.
In October of 1998, after a long day of subbing, I received a phone call from Fred Matusik, a man who I had never even heard of at the time, but to this day is my boss. Well, Fred was the principal at Huss Academy, an alternative high school in town. He asked me to take a permanent subbing position. I would be teaching Reading and Computers. The rest is history.
The fear that I experienced my first day at Huss is hard to describe. I was scared because first of all, I had never taught before. My parents are teachers, and I knew a lot from them, but having my own class scared me. I was also scared because of the things I had heard about this school. The students here were considered the "bad" kids. How would I ever be able to handle them?
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