It feels like I am living in one of those cartoons where there is a page-a-day calendar on the wall, and the pages start flying off of the calendar as though they are frames from a movie reel - discarded as the motion picture progresses.
This is largely because my days are very routine, very long and very full. They pull, one into the other, as though they are knit together. Here’s an ideal schedule for a ‘typical’ day:
5:35 am Wake-up.
6:00 am Be dressed.
6:15 am Downstairs for breakfast, put lunch from refrigerator into backpack.
6:38 am Leave for the bus stop.
6:43 am Take the 17 bus to Market and 19th streets.
6:54 am Take the 36 trolley to Tilden Middle School at 66th and Elmwood, try to do some writing on the way, check yesterday’s notes about tasks for today.
7:23 am Arrive at Tilden Middle School, unlock the 3rd floor City Year classroom, prepare my things for the day.
7:45 am Be at my assigned post to supervise students’ arrival (this rotates between: talking with/tutoring kids in the auditorium, greeting them on the steps of the school’s entrance, or standing at the perimeter of Tilden’s property to usher kids toward the school).
8:15 am Move from my morning post into the auditorium where the students have been seated, waiting for dismissal to their classrooms.
8:20 am Students are dismissed by grade level. When the 8th grade is dismissed, walk with them to the stairwell. Stand in the stairwell between the 1st and 2nd floors until 7th graders begin coming through en route to the 3rd floor, signaling that all 8th graders should now be on their floor (2nd floor).
8:30 am Check the 2nd floor to make sure that the 8th graders have actually gone into their homerooms. Shuffle those who are, inevitably, still in the hall into their respective homerooms.
8:35 am Return to the City Year room for morning circle.
8:50 am Break from morning circle, go to my 8th grade classroom.
10:05 am The three 8th grade classes rotate teachers, a new set of students (the wildest bunch) rotate into our classroom.
10:30 am The students have the option of being accompanied on their first of two bathroom breaks of the day.
10:50 am The students on my 8th grade team are escorted to “expressive arts” (Tilden’s name for gym, art, music, and computer lab). The teachers and CM’s have prep period. Since I had breakfast at 6:15 am, this is when I like to eat my lunch - except for on Tuesdays and Thursdays when there are grade-level meetings with the principal and vice-principal.
11:40 am I return to the classroom to meet the same group of students and teacher, who has just collected them from expressive arts.
12:30 pm The teacher walks our class to the 4th floor lunchroom. I stop by the CY room to pick up games (Sorry, Jenga, and Uno) for the kids to play when they’re done eating their lunch. Depending on the day, the other two CM’s from the 8th grade and I rotate either staying to play games or taking a handful of students to eat lunch and hang out in the CY room.
1:00 pm The teacher picks up a new set of students, our 3rd class, from the lunchroom. If I stayed in the lunchroom, I follow them back to the 2nd floor classroom, stopping myself to return the games to the CY room. If I was in the CY room for lunch, I round up the students and walk them down to their next class.
1:20 pm The students are usually settled down enough to begin class, although it is now past time for them to be escorted to their second bathroom break of the day (it’s supposed to be at 1:05 pm).
1:45 pm Students are walked to their second expressive arts period; teachers and CY have our second prep. If I didn’t get lunch earlier, I take it now.
2:40 pm I return to the classroom where, hopefully by now, the teacher has regrouped the class and is beginning the final class period of the day.
3:25 pm Students are dismissed (usually a few minutes late because, I forgot to mention, we don’t have functional bells in every classroom; even if we did, the school clock is about 4 minutes behind real-world time) and CM’s walk our classes to the steps used for dismissal (different from the morning steps). We loiter around the dismissal steps, making sure that the students leave the school property (ie: don’t start any fights), and collecting those who want to stay after school in the CY room to get homework help and hang out.
3:50 pm Head back to the CY room. Help students with homework, play games with students, and or work on my own CY projects (like writing curriculum for the official CY after-school programs/clubs that will start at the end of October).
4:50 pm Have students wrap things up, escort them out of the school.
5:00 pm Final Circle of the day.
5:15 pm Break from final circle, leave Tilden.
5:35 pm Take the 36 trolly to Market and 19th Streets.
6:05 pm Wait for the 17 bus home (and hope that the first 17 bus that comes isn’t too full to get onto).
6:25 pm Walk from the bus stop home.
6:30 pm Arrive home. Hang up my work pants. Get out a CY shirt and black socks for tomorrow. Put my name tag and trans pass on the shelf next to the shirt.
6:45 pm If it’s a good day, I’ll go for a run.
8:00 pm Dinner.
8:45 pm Catch up on emails. Finish up CY business that I didn’t get to after school. Try to work on applying to grad school.
9:45 pm Pack tomorrow’s lunch. Grind tomorrow morning’s coffee. Pack my backpack.
10:05 pm Head upstairs to get ready for bed.
10:45 pm Sleep time!!!
That’s more or less it! It’s pretty predictable. I’m trying to figure out how to sleep more, because I really need at least 7.5 hours of Zzz’s. On Monday nights from 5:45-7:30 pm, I have meetings at the CY downtown office for a CY program called Peace Ambassadors. Every other week at the downtown office, I attend Tuesday night meetings for a program called Youth Corps from 5:30-7:00 pm. I’ll write about working with those two programs another time.
I’m aware of how tedious this description of my days might sound, and at times it can feel that way. When I step back to reflect on the current itinerary of my life (which I wish there were more time to do!), I feel stretched. It is very tiring, but I know that I’m growing a lot. I really, really enjoy my co-workers and supervisors. I love the students, too. Working directly with them is often the most difficult part of the day, but it is also when I learn the most! Their lives are very different than mine. They constantly challenge me, but they also compel me. Serving with CY, most of the people I encounter and work with each day live a reality much different than my own. Reconciling this in my mind, and working amidst the parameters of that reality is tough, but it is an opportunity that I am blessed to have.
I am SO PROUD of you, my best friend! You are in my prayers daily.
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