"They LIKE Me! Right Now, They LIKE Me!"

Does anyone else remember Sally Field's 1985 Oscar acceptance speech?

I remember her being ridiculed for it, but I've got to tell you here that I think I know how she felt. There is a rush to being accepted for the work that you do, for receiving acknowlegement that you do it well, and for feeling that others admire you for doing it.

I got a little bit of that positive reinforcement from TCC yesterday when my department head took me aside as I was leaving.

Of course, it took a while to get to the "positive" part. When he first asked to see me, I was bracing for bad news.

You need to understand that my boss is a strange little man. He's very, VERY supportive of the work that his staff does. He's fair and kind and honest. He may be the best boss I've ever had. What makes him strange, though, is that he often gives off very negative vibes when he first approaches people. Honestly - every time he's asked to speak to me, I've blazed through my memory to see if there's anything that I've done that could have landed me in his doghouse. Did I swear in a classroom? Did I wear something inappropriate to class? Did I fail to teach something that was on the syllabus? Is a student complaining about me?

Now, I recognize that this is my default position, and I'm working hard to overcome that, but he doesn't make it any easier by his tone or body language. Once in his office, though, the icy exterior melts and everything is just fine. It's always a relief to see that, and yesterday was no exception.

He'd called me up to let me know that TCC wants me back to teach next semester! WOO HOO!!

Though nothing's written in stone, he's set me up to teach two composition courses - there may be more classes on my schedule as he finishes assigning courses to instructors, and I told him that I'd be more than happy to take anything he needs me to fill. I'm particularly excited to be teaching comp. courses - I've been wanting to teach writing for a while now, and having a new discipline adds valuable experience to my resume. It's all good, all the way around.

I'm floating on a little cloud of "I love what I do and I'm SO grateful that I'm being given the opportunity to do it," and I wanted to share.