These past couple of days have been pretty crazy for me; my emotions have been up, and then they've shot down. The internet was down too, so this is going to be a long entry:
I had my interview Wednesday afternoon at 12:30PM. Since I like to save money/pollution, I try to take public transportation whenever possible, so my journey began with a 9:35 Metra train to Irving Park. I thought I left with plenty of time to catch the train (8:35). However, when I got to Harvard I could not find a parking spot. There was not a signing telling me that I couldn't, so I parked on the street. Then, as I stood in line to purchase my ticket, I saw a police car driving through the parking lot. I asked them if my parking location was okay, and they informed me that I would get a ticket if I parked there. I asked them if they had any suggestions for parking, and they told me no, but I would get a ticket if I parked there. (Gee... Thanks for the advice/help!) At this time I hadn't purchased my ticket but saw a conductor and asked him how much time I had. He responded that I had 4 mins. When I asked him if I had time to move my car, his response was, "if you're fast." I think I have tears in my eyes at this point because if my interview goes anything like my morning, I am in trouble. So I run to my car and circle the parking lot again: nothing! I happen to see the police officers who then tell me I should be okay parking by the water tower. I pull in there, hop out of my car (as all of the contents of my purse fall in the gravel), pick up my lip gloss, wallet, etc. and run on the train. When I look at my phone, the time reads 9:36. I obviously didn't have time to purchase my ticket inside (It's $2 more on the train.), so I waited to take off.
Well the train didn't depart until 9:44, so I definitely would have had time to buy a ticket. When the conductor came by and tried to charge me the $2 extra. I explained myself, and my luck turned a bit as he gave pity on me. I got some help from the woman behind me. She happened to be a teacher in Lake Geneva. She was very nice, and we talked for a bit. There was a Cubs game at Wrigley that day, so the train was full as well as running very far behind. I knew I was going to get to Irving Park later than expected, and I also figured the buses were going to be full of Cubs fans, so I decided to walk a bit and then take a cab the rest of the way.
I got a rush of excitement when I got off the train and saw a sea of blue, red and white. I became very jealous that I was not going to the game. As I walked I ended up behind a couple of fans (Dave and Chad) who had the same idea of getting a cab to Wrigley. When I told them I had an interview on W. Sheridan they invited me to share the cab with them. I learned that the two of them were celebrating Chad's 25th birthday. Chad didn't say a ton, but I do know that he now lives in Las Vegas and works as a bartender and server with the hopes of finding a bodyshop job. Chad goes to DePaul and is majoring in film (after thinking he was going to be a teacher in two different subjects). I think Dave may have had some drinks before the game, but he still had some nice compliments for me. When he asked me why I didn't have a boyfriend, he insisted that I will find one within three weeks of being in Chicago. (We'll see...) He also felt very confident that I was going to get this job. When I asked the guys if either of them had change, they insisted on paying for the cab. They told me that they were going that way any way; I just better get the job.
When I walked up to the doors of the school around 12:10, Sesame Street was painted on the windows. Now that was a good sign for me because I watched Sesame Street religiously as a child! I only had to wait about 5 minutes until I started the interview. I ended up staying there for two hours and receiving the job! I loved the director, her philosophies, the hours I'd work, the classroom(s), etc. The job was too good to be true!
As I walked to catch the el back to the train station, I realized maybe it was. When they had told me how much I'd be making per hour, I wasn't thrilled, but I also didn't expect a lot. Sadly, it's well-known that teachers are WAY underpaid! But when I got my phone calculator out to figure how much I'd make in a day, a week, a month, a year, I realized that it was even lower than I expected. Yet, I still felt optimistic and happy to report my news to friends and family. Now it was time to start the apartment search! Right before I went to bed I thought I'd go into my super organized mode and make a column of gains and a column of losses in regards to money for each month. After I realized the volume of things I'll be paying for (rent, electric, cable, groceries, gym membership, cta card, loan payments, fun...), I realized that everything that seemed so perfect might be setting me up for severe unhappiness. Yes, I could waitress or bartend on the weekends, but I'm going to be 22 in 20 days, and I want my weekends for myself. I could also potentially cut out on small things like a gym membership and maybe cut down on fun spending, but again... I don't want to do that. I have spend so much of my life working the whole week, and I don't want to do that anymore.
As luck would have it, I received a phone call yesterday afternoon for another teaching assistant position I had applied for. When I spoke with the director, she informed me that my credentials might qualify me to be a head preschool teacher in her school. This news was exciting/scary to me. Could I really have a classroom to myself?! I have an interview set up with her for 10AM on Tuesday. When I spoke with her yesterday, she informed me that classes will be staring in a couple of weeks. While I had set a goal for myself to start the Tuesday after Labor Day, now everything seems to be happening so quickly! I've started questioning if this is really what I want to be doing, or if my "go-getter" personality is getting the best of me. After talking with a few fabulous friends last night, everyone agreed that I should go to this interview on Tuesday and see how it goes. Also, I'm still free to continue searching other jobs because I have not signed any contracts. Needless to say I haven't been sleeping the best lately, and I am incredibly excited to go to yoga at noon followed by a Thai lunch with EmTemp. I just wanted to say thanks to all of my friends who have been so supportive, lent an ear, etc. You're the best!
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