I like Mike. Mike would be my mentor if I take the job to the south. “Not that you need one, but I guess I would be it,” said Mike at our last meeting. Mike is a draw, someone I could learn from. I would have great colleagues in the south. Mike is teaching the classes that I will get to teach if I take the job to the West. However, Mike is thinking about quitting and if he does, I would get his AP classes. There is a new school board and they’ve fired the principal, the same principal that has offered me the job. There are some serious red flags associated with institutional instability.

Jason said something interesting the other day. He’s been through some hard times over the past few years, but one of the hardest things he’s had to do is get over the need for external validation drilled into him through years of schooling. I think the koan version of this dilemma is expressed as, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” I keep looking outside myself for the answers and I need to follow Chuang Tzu’s advice and turn the light around. I think I might get a better shot at that in the job to the west, the Hermann job.

I think I know what my long term goal is. I think I want a Ph.D. in education so I can teach teachers. Ultimately, I want to be at the university. Teaching at this more rural school, now that I’ve taught inner city, will give me a breadth of experience towards that career goal. I think we’re close to a decision and have a five year plan as well.