Commitment!

(You need to say it the way John Adams in 1776 says it, otherwise it just doesn't have the same effect.)

Belive it or not, I have been purposely waiting for this day to update my blog. I anticipated that I would have Very Big News, and I wanted to be able to share it.

So, I do have Very Big News...sort of. As it turns out, Very Big News is a little bit complicated.

Today I received a "letter of commitment" to be a teacher in a New York City public school. What does this mean? It means that I am guaranteed a full-time job as a classroom teacher in New York. I am guaranteed the (surprisingly high, for the non-profit sector) starting teacher salary. I am guaranteed the health benefits. I am guaranteed the union membership (the UFT is the best teachers' union in the country). Sweet!

The catch is, I'm only guaranteed all that in September 2007. (Am I kicking myself a little for being in such a hurry to finish my master's program in a year and a half? Yes, yes I am.) Starting in January, I can substitute teach -- I can maybe even be a leave replacement in a classroom -- but I don't officially become an NYC public school teacher until September.

In the meantime, this leaves me with a lot of options, and as most of you know, I'm uncomfortable with having a lot of options. I can of course do what I was planning to do anyway -- substitute teach, maybe be a leave replacement, freelance or temp for Sesame. I could travel! Take time off, like everyone is always trying to convince me to do!

But do I keep an eye out for full-time work? I have eight months to think, "If something better comes along in the meantime..." But what would be something better? If Sesame happens to hire me as a temp and then happens to offer me something full time, I guarantee the salary and benefits won't be as good.

In short, it boils down to that age-old question: Do I want to be a teacher, or not?

On the way home, I felt like I was in that movie Fools Rush In, the one where Salma Hayek tries to convince Matthew Perry that there are signs everywhere. In the Prudential Center, I saw a man who led a teaching workshop for my program at Brandeis. On the T, an elementary school class got on. The kids were giggling and pushing. Their teacher was reprimanding them. And I smiled.

I think I want to do this.