I Spontaneously Planned my Life at 6AM Yesterday

So, after 5 years of university...I am officially done!!

Here’s the deal: There were so many ridiculous and funny stories that happened during my teaching placement that I wanted to share with you all. The thing is…I’m a very paranoid person. Maybe you’ve noticed. I was paranoid that if I somehow “bashed” the teaching profession, someone might find my blog and discover it was me, and report me for “unprofessional conduct.” Then I wouldn’t graduate. I’m serious: There’s a bunch of keener people in this program. The gossip of 2 months ago was that some guy said something slightly negative in class about his first teaching placement, and two girls in this class told on him to the principal at the school where he did his placement.. Last I heard, he was being kicked out of the program. EXACTLY.

Unfortunately, most of these funny stories have left my memory. I’m sure they will come back, and I will blog about them the minute that they do.

What you need to know about teaching is…You NEED to give teachers more credit. I certainly do. I had no clue about all the crap that teachers put up with daily. Seriously, they need to be paid more and have more holidays.

Also, you NEED to know that there are some really crappy teachers out there, and if you have kids in school, you should fear for their futures.

I’ve decided that I DO NOT want to be a teacher anymore. I can’t picture myself waking up every morning and loving what I do. Besides I do not want to do any of the following:

• Babysit
• Endure kids throwing insults and objects at me
• Be on the “supply teacher’s list” and hope I get a phone call to substitute teach + suck up to teachers + hand out business cards + hope that someone offers me a job
• Marking + coaching + volunteering + planning lessons every evening and weekend
• Make small talk in the staffroom with the other teachers 
•  Talk completely in acronyms (OCT, OSSTF, DRA, IEP, QECO, OSR, OSSTL…..ahhhh! You will not believe how many times I talked with teachers and pretended that I knew what their stupid acronyms meant!)

Besides these things, I really have no interest in things that teachers should. For example, students would show me work and go, “Look Ms., do you like this? Did I do a good job?” and it reaaaallly took a lot of effort for me to go, “Wow, that looks great!” Deep down I’m thinking, It looks like shit. I don’t care. When is lunch? I want to go home. If that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is.

I woke up at 6 am yesterday, still in teacher mode, thinking, “I’m gonna be late for school!” Silly me. While I was up, however, I planned my life. Seriously. I had no clue what I was doing this coming year. Here’s the plan:

• Move in with one of my good friends next week (this was already decided months ago)
• Get a crappy job for a year that will allow me to pay rent, go out to karaoke once a week, and afford some Mr. Noodle
• Take some extra university courses in writing + get reference letters from profs
• Put together a writing portfolio + apply for a Masters degree in creative writing
• Audition for a part in the Rocky Horror Halloween show
• Read (I haven’t done this in FOREVER!)

I’m not sure if any of you actually care about these plans of mine (thanks for reading up to this point, if you do!), but it definitely feels good to put these plans down in writing. As much as I hate the crappy university that I went to for 5 years...I just can’t stay away. But this time, it will be better. I will be taking only one or two courses. They will be courses that I will actually like (which I hardly got the opportunity to experience before!) And if I’m technically “still in school,” I won’t feel like such a hobo. Woohoo.

Anyways, I’m excited to be a “grown-up” now! I’m excited to blog more! I’m excited to listen to David Bowie on vinyl continuously in my new apartment! I’m excited to read your blogs! I’m excited to be poor! Yay!

Reclaiming the word "slut"?

So, I came home today and did my usual flop on the couch after spending all day in a classroom full of rude and disrespectful hooligans, and started watching MTV (don't judge). Under the so-called "news" section, they mentioned how yesterday there was a "Slut Walk" that happened in Toronto. I was intrigued so I did some googling...

Apparently, a member of the Toronto Police made the following statement to a university law class: "Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized." Ummmm, what?!?

Apparently, many people had the same reaction as I did, and thus organized a "Slut Walk" protest, whereby they attempted to reclaim the word "slut." Some of the people that MTV interviewed had a lot to say. One girl said something along the lines of, "I'm proud to be a slut! It means I'm comfortable with my sexuality."

I think this is all very interesting. As much as the words "bitch" and "queer" might have been reclaimed, I don't think "slut" has the same potential. Even when I hear guys call themselves a "man slut," it's just that...a man slut. That's because "slut" will always be a word to describe females. But who knows, maybe that will change someday...

My mom was around and happened to catch a glimpse of what I was watching. She then went into a rant about how "children are starving" and "people are dying" and "people don't have jobs." She said that people should not be protesting "slut" nonsense, because it's not as serious as these issues. Oh mom. I tried to explain to her that, "Well, if you feel strongly about something, not speaking up about it because there are worse issues in the world is not a good reason." I still don't think she got it. That's like saying, "There's someone bleeding on the sidewalk but I'm not going to help him because helping victims of the Japan tsunami is more serious." Okay, well maybe that's not a good example, but you get the point.

Although I think what the police officer said was appalling -- he's pretty much suggesting that women who dress provocatively are asking to be raped -- I'm not sure that I'd be willing to walk around Toronto, holding up a sign, proclaiming myself to be a "slut." But kudos to those who had the guts to do that. We'll have to watch and see how the word "slut" is used in 50 years from now I guess...