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Against All Odds
Submitted by: Ashley
New York, NYRaised in suburban New Jersey, educated in rural Massachusetts, I've finally made it to New York City. I aim to live life to the fullest. I currently work as a middle school teacher in the Bronx. I love my family (pets included!), friends, and boyfriend so incredibly much. It's the little things in life that make it sparkle.
Nobody’s first year of teaching is easy. Mine just so happened to be in the Bronx, with minimal prior experience, teaching in an area in which I had no expertise – elementary literacy.
I was saddled with fourteen different classes per week – about 350 students – which tested me in many ways. At first, I thought I was doing okay, all things considered.
Then, a coworker of mine, another first-year teacher, got fired for really no good reason. Looking back at the teachings of The Secret, it’s so obvious what effect my thinking about her situation had. I thought to myself, “this could happen to me.” Sure enough, my supervisors started paying more attention to me, and not in a good way. They began writing me up for seemingly every little thing I did wrong. My fear led to more fear until my job – heck, my life – was really intolerable.
In truth, our school is not a happy place to work. There are some truly wonderful people on staff – and thank God for them – but a lot of unfair things occur and very few people are happy with the way things are run.
Then, all this fear of being fired built up to a terrible situation. My mentor informed me that if I did not find another teaching position at a different school, my principal would “U” rate me for the year – “U” as in “unsatisfactory.” This is a big deal. He thought it was unfair, but there was nothing he could do about it.
I called upon numerous people for help, yet it seemed nobody could say anything but “I wish I could do something to help you. You’ll just have to find another job.”
I applied to literally over 200 teaching jobs, and only heard from four – two of which rejected me.
It was during this time that I was reading The Secret for the first time. I decided that I would not get disheartened, I would not throw in the towel.
“I will get a job,” I said to myself.
I had literally two weeks to get a job.
Most principals do not hire in June. Think about it: if you were a principal, you’d probably be stacking up resumes in June due to being insanely busy with end of the year things.
A few interviews later, I went in for a demonstration lesson and interview at a new small middle school in Harlem. I loved that I could talk to the administrators like real people without feeling “that knife in your back”, as a coworker of mine called it. I loved the 7th grade students. I really just had a great time – and the principal loved it and hired me on the spot!
I woke up that day feeling so positive, with that little tingle of excitement in my stomach. How could things go wrong on a day like that? They didn’t.
Worth noting: I also made it to the interview in record time!
I can’t solely credit my practice of The Secret with my success. I also have a coworker and a complete stranger to thank, both of whom offered me so much support, and in one case, prayers.
Even though my former administrators worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle teaching middle school English – because I was “too nice”, among other reasons – I knew in my heart that I could. Now I’ll get the chance to do it.
I’ll thoroughly enjoy this summer, but I have high hopes for September, too!