The Silverbloggers Chronicles - Prompt # 36 Your first job

My first job is a fond memory, though filled with many uncertainties. As a teacher with a high school diploma, which was my academic background at the time, I already had, as we say, the formal document that allowed me to say I was a teacher. I truly didn't know what I was facing. I was only 19 years old, a recent graduate, and my plan was to continue studying, to go to university, but since I was already eligible for a formal job, that's what I did.

There were quite a few doubts and mistakes, as the education in a small-town high school and the socialization there are never the same as in a cosmopolitan city like Caracas.

For me, it was a quantum leap, from my small town to the city. With a formal, stable job, as we say, with all the corresponding benefits. But truly, working with children was a great experience, dealing with so many stories and each child's unique way of learning. As a high school teacher, I didn't have the necessary tools to handle this kind of work. Now I think how resilient I was.

That first job was an adventure, a mind beginning to open up. I wanted so many things, but I didn't know how to channel them. However, I managed to manage on a teacher's salary in a very cosmopolitan city, cover my expenses, and make ends meet. It was full of adventures, meeting people. Sometimes I didn't understand people's humor when they found out I came from a small town, like a country girl. Now I see it that way.

Facing a different culture, I felt like an automaton: getting up, going to work, running errands. Then I started university, so in the morning I was a student and in the afternoon the teacher in charge. I learned so much, not only in the field of education but also about myself as a person and all the responsibility I took on. What did they expect from me? I don't know… in my world, I just wanted to graduate and keep doing things.

A first job is a unique experience; they expect a lot from us, that's how I see it now. They don't realize that daily practice is what makes us grow in the tasks we take on; it's about being responsible, disciplined, and consistent. Submitting academic plans, children's report cards, seeing parents upset about the evaluations and their results. Anyway, I think that at my age, accepting that challenge was part of my personal, emotional, spiritual, and family growth… because being away from my family was something I had to do so it wouldn't affect me so much, understanding that everyone chooses their own path, and I chose mine.