WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.560 Welcome back episode 85 of your favorite podcast 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:05.639 show Shit That's Just Life with your favorite 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:08.460 life coach here. My guest today is a retired 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:11.179 US English teacher who spent decades with seventh 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:13.759 and eighth graders. It's an age where kids are 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:16.199 standing at the doorway between childhood and 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:18.679 adulthood, trying to figure out who they are 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.780 and who they want to become. We're diving into 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:24.339 decisions that guided her career, the moments 00:00:24.339 --> 00:00:27.120 that broke her open, the lessons that she learned 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.019 from her students. and to think about what it 00:00:30.019 --> 00:00:32.960 means to choose a life of teaching. So settle 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:36.259 in, take a breather, and let us step into the 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:39.759 story. So getting started wise, I first want 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:44.460 to know what life choice can you say led you 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:47.179 to become an English teacher? Was it intentional 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:50.600 or was it like accidental when you became an 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:52.859 English teacher? Was that intentional or accidental? 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:57.460 The English part was accidental. The teaching 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:00.920 part was intentional. Does that make sense? Yeah. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.159 So I believe I've always wanted to be a teacher. 00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:08.340 I loved to babysit. And while I was babysitting, 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.700 I was teaching the little kids, you know, stuff, 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:16.859 anything I could and whatever. And then my first 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:20.980 job came and the principal, we did a phone interview 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:25.680 and he asked, do you like to teach? And I was 00:01:25.680 --> 00:01:28.260 like, yes, I love to read. He was like, but can 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:31.079 you teach reading? I was like, sure. I didn't 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.939 know whether I could or not. It was first year, 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.280 I needed a job. I'm saying yes to anything. And 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.420 so I ended up in reading first. And then of course, 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:44.400 reading evolved into ELA, English, you know, 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.920 whatever. So it went on from there. But I loved 00:01:46.920 --> 00:01:51.000 it because I love to read and I loved helping 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:55.849 my students. love to read. Okay. All right. That's 00:01:55.849 --> 00:01:59.489 interesting. Okay, so when it comes to middle 00:01:59.489 --> 00:02:04.030 schoolers, do you think they're at a crossroads 00:02:04.030 --> 00:02:06.810 in life? Like, what choices do you see them wrestling 00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:11.430 with the most? The middle schoolers wrestle with 00:02:11.430 --> 00:02:19.210 their homes, waking up. Okay. Am I a child? Or 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:23.960 am I becoming a teen? or am I a grown -up? Some, 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:26.319 a lot of the middle school, well, I won't say 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:28.419 a lot, but some of the middle, well, for the 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:33.500 30 years, a lot of the middle schoolers had to 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:36.879 be the grown -up in their family. And then when 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:40.360 they came to school, they tried to be the grown 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:44.759 -up in front of a grown -up, you know, a teacher 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.219 grown -up, and it wasn't working. So they were 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:52.400 having a fight there. And so it was just um they 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.020 had to kind of separate their home life from 00:02:56.020 --> 00:02:59.159 the school life they had to learn that they also 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.199 had to learn about the hormones that were going 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:05.819 on and then they had you know and then um Do 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:08.500 I still want to play with dolls or do I want 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:11.259 to play with makeup? I'm not sure what I want 00:03:11.259 --> 00:03:14.259 to do, you know, so it was all of that is going 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.560 on. Their environment at home and then in school. 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:19.740 Do I want to be with the bad kids? Do I want 00:03:19.740 --> 00:03:22.080 to be with the good kids? They had a lot of choices 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:31.819 to make. and they had crosswords themselves. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.620 Yeah. And they just had to figure out, you know, 00:03:34.659 --> 00:03:37.199 who am I? And that's another big one. They were 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.860 trying to figure out who they were, you know, 00:03:40.139 --> 00:03:43.819 who they wanted to become. Also, did any of that 00:03:43.819 --> 00:03:52.439 affect your teaching techniques? Oh, yeah. We 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:58.219 learned to start where the students okay are 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:01.180 I learned and so if we want to act like a baby 00:04:01.180 --> 00:04:06.560 today I just kind of sat down and stopped and 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:12.240 kind of relaxed I I think I'm I don't know totally 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.360 a different kind of a teacher because I didn't 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.779 stick to the curriculum and we got to do this 00:04:17.779 --> 00:04:21.040 if I was seeing that the majority of the kids 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.639 five or seven of them were having um I'm acting 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.899 like a baby today I'm gonna stop the class and 00:04:27.899 --> 00:04:31.899 let's talk about this what's going on um and 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:34.600 then we were able to jump into the lesson or 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:38.860 else I was able to tie it that real life I was 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:43.060 able to tie it to learning about whatever we 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:48.420 were doing that day okay you know oh my goodness 00:04:48.420 --> 00:05:01.750 what would that be of the lessons and knowledge 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:06.970 that they had learned up until that age, it doesn't 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:11.129 really apply. And the parents are thinking it 00:05:11.129 --> 00:05:15.579 does. You know, don't touch the hot stove. or 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:17.680 else you're going to get burned. Yeah, you still 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.000 will get burned, but those kids are going to 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.779 touch it. A lot of those kids are going to have 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:26.259 to see for themselves. And that's what they want. 00:05:26.420 --> 00:05:29.980 And parents are like, I told you not to do it. 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:35.879 They have to let their kids go and see for themselves. 00:05:36.019 --> 00:05:37.819 If they get burned, you have to be ready with 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:41.459 the ointment. Put it on there, give them a Band 00:05:41.459 --> 00:05:46.120 -Aid, and tell them. I told you so. I said. Yeah. 00:05:46.180 --> 00:05:49.420 No. No. I told you so. I told you. I told you 00:05:49.420 --> 00:05:53.339 so. There's a dog out there. Yeah. Yeah. You're 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:54.779 gonna run with the dogs. You're gonna come home 00:05:54.779 --> 00:05:58.000 with fleas. You know all of that. Okay. So yeah. 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:02.680 Can you say something about at least what is 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:06.399 the truth about life did you learn? Like what 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:08.879 is what is something? What is the truth did life 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:16.300 teach you to face when you were teaching? what 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:21.519 was something that life taught me at least what 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:26.220 truth did life teach you know teach you wow that 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:31.259 it was okay okay it was okay for me to get something 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:36.959 wrong and to admit it you know because that's 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:41.459 a hard thing for adults okay i'm standing up 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:47.329 here in front of these 20 25, sometimes, sixth 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:50.250 graders, seventh graders, eighth graders, and 00:06:50.250 --> 00:06:54.649 I misspoke. I did something wrong. I, you know, 00:06:54.829 --> 00:06:59.170 messed up. And to say sorry in front of them 00:06:59.170 --> 00:07:01.930 was a lesson that I had to learn that I needed 00:07:01.930 --> 00:07:05.250 to do. You know, my first year was kind of funny. 00:07:05.610 --> 00:07:08.089 I told all the students what all we were going 00:07:08.089 --> 00:07:11.370 to do for the whole year. We got a lot done. 00:07:11.709 --> 00:07:16.589 I missed one or two things. I had a student call 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.910 me out on one of the things that we didn't get 00:07:19.910 --> 00:07:25.250 to do. You say it. Okay. We were gonna do. Yeah. 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:28.370 You know, and we didn't do it. And I'm like, 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:32.449 yeah. Okay. You know, and I was like, oh, I'm 00:07:32.449 --> 00:07:35.290 sorry. Yeah. You know, but that was hard. That 00:07:35.290 --> 00:07:38.009 was hard. You know, she put me on blast. Yeah. 00:07:38.089 --> 00:07:40.910 Yeah, I said it. Yeah. You know, and so my lesson 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:43.110 was, don't tell them what we're going to do the 00:07:43.110 --> 00:07:47.230 whole year okay broke it down let me do this 00:07:47.230 --> 00:07:51.790 semester yeah get a couple of wishes and change 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:57.250 it from kind of use my words intentionally okay 00:07:57.250 --> 00:08:00.490 don't say this is what we're going to do i would 00:08:00.490 --> 00:08:02.689 have to say this is what we're going to try to 00:08:02.689 --> 00:08:06.730 do yeah you know and so if we don't make it Yeah, 00:08:07.889 --> 00:08:11.050 that brings me to my next question. When did 00:08:11.050 --> 00:08:13.930 a student teach you something that you weren't 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:23.230 really ready for? And it really did because that 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:27.649 was something that was my first year. First year, 00:08:27.810 --> 00:08:32.009 didn't know anything. And from then on, I remembered 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:37.210 She sat there, I see her face, I see everything, 00:08:37.370 --> 00:08:38.990 I just don't know her, I can't get that name. 00:08:40.669 --> 00:08:43.809 She sat there and she sure did, she asked. And 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:47.960 so I was like, okay, hi. I felt like I failed 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:51.759 her, you know, and I didn't want to do that to 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.340 anybody else. I didn't want to fail anybody else. 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:57.019 So I was real intentional about, okay, this is 00:08:57.019 --> 00:09:01.620 our plan, you know, using that instead of going 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:10.700 to do. What was the most emotionally difficult 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:16.629 part of teaching adolescents? The most emotionally 00:09:16.629 --> 00:09:19.190 difficult part of teaching adolescence, what 00:09:19.190 --> 00:09:34.610 would you say was the most? When a student and 00:09:34.610 --> 00:09:42.590 adolescent dies, because, oh, where was I the 00:09:42.590 --> 00:09:49.340 first year? The students looked to me for, okay, 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.960 the comfort, the understanding, the reasoning. 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:55.820 How did it happen? Why did it happen? How did 00:09:55.820 --> 00:10:02.460 God let this happen? Yeah. You know, I was like, 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:09.460 you know, so I did, I had to learn that if I'm 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:11.500 going to cry with them, I'm going to cry with 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:14.870 them. And if I just need to hold them and hug 00:10:14.870 --> 00:10:18.809 them, I need to do that too. Sounds like that 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:22.610 can be difficult. Yeah. That's difficult. That's 00:10:22.610 --> 00:10:27.330 difficult. Yeah. So now that you're retired, 00:10:27.610 --> 00:10:30.590 what life choices do you look back on differently? 00:10:34.049 --> 00:10:39.379 I wish I would have continued education. Okay. 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:43.279 I wanted to sort of, let me see, what did I want 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:47.139 to do? I wanted to be a counselor because I'm 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:52.200 nosy, you know. I wanted to know everybody's 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.740 business but I didn't have the words, I didn't 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:58.259 feel I had the words to help them, you know, 00:10:58.379 --> 00:11:00.899 well enough. Yeah. And to send them to some of 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:02.860 the counselors, I was like, well, you just stay 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.480 in here because I'm better than that. And I just 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.919 didn't want to do the hours. okay you know and 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.899 i feel like now i cheated myself out of that 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:14.980 i cheated myself out of that i i should have 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:19.440 gone into counseling because i think it would 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.740 have been fun i would have liked it i would have 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:25.779 you know just a lot more different experiences 00:11:25.779 --> 00:11:29.240 okay out of the classroom yeah just trying to 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:33.860 get up out there classroom okay you want to at 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:38.409 least switch lanes for a second And I think, 00:11:39.230 --> 00:11:43.789 yes, I think if I would, Leslie, I think if I 00:11:43.789 --> 00:11:50.210 would have switched lanes, I may have continued 00:11:50.210 --> 00:11:55.409 in education a little longer. I got out because 00:11:55.409 --> 00:12:00.230 the district noticed that at my building, I was 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:06.080 paid the most. And so they were like, we can 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:09.820 get almost two and a half people in that building 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:14.360 on her salary. You know, so they started meddling 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:18.220 with me. So, you know, I was like, okay, cool. 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.120 I'll retire. I got my hours. I got my time. But 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:25.139 I would have kept going if I was out because 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:27.980 I think on a counselor's salary, I wouldn't have 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:30.019 been at the top. But at the teacher's salary, 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.429 I would have been at the top. because I had 30 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:37.289 years in, and if I would have started counseling, 00:12:37.289 --> 00:12:40.429 I wouldn't have had 30 years. You know what I'm 00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:43.509 saying? I would have been at year seven, and 00:12:43.509 --> 00:12:47.009 you ain't getting no money at year seven. She 00:12:47.009 --> 00:12:51.230 said, I'll take the 30, Bob. Okay, yeah. I'll 00:12:51.230 --> 00:12:54.690 take the time I work for, okay. So what is the 00:12:54.690 --> 00:12:57.049 decision that you made in your personal life 00:12:57.049 --> 00:12:59.429 that affected your teaching, for better or for 00:12:59.429 --> 00:13:10.639 worse? Hmm. Hmm. Oh, that's a good question. 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:18.759 If it didn't mean your personal life. That affected 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.919 your teaching, either for the better or for the 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:30.059 worse. I think changing districts. So I was in 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:37.500 Kansas City and Paul Robeson and a principal 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:44.279 there decided, I'm just going to send you over 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:48.779 to Nowland, which is over in Independence. And 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:51.500 so you know the difference of being in Kansas 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:54.639 City and then having to go over to Independence. 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:59.149 And that's a totally different... Kid, totally 00:13:59.149 --> 00:14:03.370 different. Totally different zone. Everything. 00:14:03.470 --> 00:14:07.649 Yes. Whereas we were told at a PTA meeting, make 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:12.610 sure you are caught over here after dark. You 00:14:12.610 --> 00:14:14.190 know what I'm saying? So I'm like, I'll wait. 00:14:14.490 --> 00:14:17.049 It's already dark, so now what do I do? Oh, well. 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:21.870 You know? Yeah. But so I had that whole atmosphere. 00:14:22.190 --> 00:14:24.110 And it wasn't just the parents. It was some of 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:27.509 the teachers, too, that had this. you know what 00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:31.009 are you all black folks doing over here okay 00:14:31.009 --> 00:14:39.370 so that and then from there um i left kansas 00:14:39.370 --> 00:14:43.990 city and went out to center okay um middle school 00:14:43.990 --> 00:14:51.159 and so i think that is one decision that affected 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:53.799 my teaching because then out of center, it was 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.919 really a totally different thing. And I really, 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:01.740 I think the kids were easier. The kids weren't 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:07.299 as biased, prejudiced, racist as their parents 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:10.679 were because since kindergarten back in center, 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:14.320 so that was 90, early 2000s, they were used to 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:16.759 seeing black folks in their classes. okay their 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:18.940 parents you know their parents and so the parents 00:15:18.940 --> 00:15:21.419 were trying to come up to the pool talking some 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.299 trash to us adults and i'm like wait a minute 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:31.039 you know let's let's not do that yeah so it was 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.779 better at sometimes and then it was worse that 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:37.059 uh you know that part was worse but it in the 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:40.059 end it taught me how to deal with it okay you 00:15:40.059 --> 00:15:46.700 know and deal with the folks So, what is one 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:49.720 message that you hope your formal students carry 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:56.919 into their adult lives? That they like to read. 00:15:57.019 --> 00:16:01.659 Okay. And that and that message is that you need 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:07.759 to be lifelong readers. Yeah. And I think because 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:15.440 I've seen some of my students outside of high 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:19.240 school, college, they've come to me and especially 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:22.100 boys. The girls, the girls probably came to me 00:16:22.100 --> 00:16:25.679 as readers or oh I like to read sometimes but 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:30.480 you know but the boys are the ones that I've 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.620 heard one student told me now this is that they 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:38.559 were grown. You were the first teacher that I 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:43.019 had to read the entire book for. You know, I 00:16:43.019 --> 00:16:46.360 never, and now this is in sixth grade. So what 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:50.580 were you doing all these years before? And then 00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:53.759 I loved the library. Oh, that's another one. 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:56.240 I wish I wouldn't jumped into libraries, you 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.120 know, because I could have been a librarian. 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.059 I would have liked that too, because I like putting 00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:04.440 books into kids' hands. And that's what I did. 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:06.480 And that's how I got the boys to keep reading. 00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:09.599 You know, you didn't have to read about, you 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:13.450 know. the girls jumping up and down playing jump 00:17:13.450 --> 00:17:17.109 rope. You can read about the boys playing soccer, 00:17:17.210 --> 00:17:20.450 basketball, football, you know, because the books 00:17:20.450 --> 00:17:23.650 were in the library and I read some of them and 00:17:23.650 --> 00:17:25.630 I knew that they would be good for the kids, 00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:29.849 you know, so I made, for the fellas, I made lifelong 00:17:29.849 --> 00:17:33.910 learners. Another student, and bad part about 00:17:33.910 --> 00:17:38.250 it is I don't remember him. Sorry, but he came 00:17:38.250 --> 00:17:45.240 and he said, because I had him reading, he taught 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:51.759 his kids the love for reading. And so I'm like, 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:57.279 that's what I wanted. It's funny that you mentioned 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:02.700 that as a government civilian, I can honestly 00:18:02.700 --> 00:18:07.480 say that reading needs to be a main priority, 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:11.299 partially because I was talking to different, 00:18:11.339 --> 00:18:13.220 all different types of people from all over, 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:15.920 you know, different places in the world. But 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:19.339 the main thing they had questions on is something 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:22.539 that they could have just read, you know? A piece 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:24.940 of mail comes into their home and they're like, 00:18:25.539 --> 00:18:27.740 I'm calling because the number was on it. We're 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:30.200 like, well, did you read what was on the letter? 00:18:31.159 --> 00:18:33.559 No, I didn't read it. Well, the thing is, you 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:36.880 don't even need to call. You just need to read 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.880 what's on the letter. The instructions are clear. 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:45.380 Did you read it? And the one thing they never, 00:18:45.380 --> 00:18:48.220 you know, tend to do was ever read, or it's just, 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.279 they don't read past the first line. You know, 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:54.740 they don't read past the first few words. Please 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:57.460 call. It was like, did you read the rest? Please 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:00.630 call us if you are deaf. okay don't don't call 00:19:00.630 --> 00:19:04.549 us just because did you read the rest people 00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:06.869 see please call and they just call so i thought 00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:09.789 that was pretty pretty funny and that's when 00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:14.170 to me working in the government taught me to 00:19:14.170 --> 00:19:18.660 always dot my i's and cross my t's you know always 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:22.579 read before you do anything read the website 00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:25.859 read read read everything you need is out there 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:28.259 so you just need to read there's a lot of people 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:32.359 are choosing not to read like literally i can 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.539 i can literally take a horse to the water but 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:38.599 i can't make them drinking that's right it's 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.599 just like i can tell someone all day to their 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.140 blue in the face what stuff they says but if 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:47.990 they are not choosing to read then it's up to 00:19:47.990 --> 00:19:51.250 them how they want to further their education 00:19:51.250 --> 00:19:54.529 if they're not trying to read. So I can definitely 00:19:54.529 --> 00:19:58.289 relate to that. Seriously. And I thought it was 00:19:58.289 --> 00:20:02.150 just children. It's like, oh no, these are adults. 00:20:03.109 --> 00:20:07.470 These are grownups, beyond grown, that are deciding 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:11.339 not to read. These are people that are my grandma's 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.319 age or choosing not to read. You know, my dad's 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:16.859 age, choosing not to read. So it's just like, 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:22.240 okay, I'm glad that I just don't, I don't partake 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:25.839 in any of those parties anymore, any of those 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:28.880 situations. I read everything I get or I make 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:32.460 time to sit down to read. Just don't cite anything 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:35.049 that you don't agree to. But first, you have 00:20:35.049 --> 00:20:37.750 to read it. You have to read it. You have to 00:20:37.750 --> 00:20:41.230 read it. You have to read it. Yeah. I used to 00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:44.470 tell my students, the boys, OK, you become that 00:20:44.470 --> 00:20:47.009 basketball player. But in the contract, because 00:20:47.009 --> 00:20:51.509 you don't want to read a nonfiction, contract 00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:55.849 or nonfiction, piece of work that in the contract 00:20:55.849 --> 00:21:00.349 on page 17, It's going to say that you have to 00:21:00.349 --> 00:21:02.089 give your sixth grade, seventh grade, whatever 00:21:02.089 --> 00:21:06.470 grade it was, eighth grade English teacher, $20 00:21:06.470 --> 00:21:11.150 every time, every step you put on the basketball 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:14.390 court during the game and practice. But if you're 00:21:14.390 --> 00:21:16.569 not going to read that, you're not going to know 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:18.730 that you're going to be paying me. You know, 00:21:18.890 --> 00:21:22.730 I mean, just silly stuff, just so they can realize, 00:21:23.730 --> 00:21:27.660 oh yeah, I do. You kind of need to read everything. 00:21:28.220 --> 00:21:30.099 Yeah. You know, like you said, I just read the 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:32.559 first two sentences of that call. No, you read 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:36.900 it all. Read it all. Because what's hidden in 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:39.380 there? Yeah, really. And the thing is, it's just 00:21:39.380 --> 00:21:42.240 the fact that if you don't start reading, then 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.039 typically you're putting something on to someone 00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:48.940 else to do for you. And it's always something 00:21:48.940 --> 00:21:51.380 that we can do ourselves. You know what I'm saying? 00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:53.819 Especially when it comes to like, reading. It's 00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:56.660 one thing if you need someone to reiterate what 00:21:56.660 --> 00:21:59.680 something means or you know, translate to tell 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:02.119 you what this really means, but it's another 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:04.440 thing for you to be like, I didn't read it at 00:22:04.440 --> 00:22:08.319 all. You read it for me. Do it for me. You know 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:10.960 what I'm saying? It's even like when people with 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:14.140 taxes, how can you not learn how to do your own 00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:19.740 taxes, but you expect the... The tax prepared 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:22.720 to do everything down to the T. Oh, she was supposed 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.900 to do everything down. Well, if you don't even 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:26.599 know how to do it, how do you know she did it 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:30.769 wrong? How can you fix it if you don't even know 00:22:30.769 --> 00:22:33.009 what it's supposed to look like? And everything 00:22:33.009 --> 00:22:35.369 out there, there are instructions on how you 00:22:35.369 --> 00:22:38.769 can actually file your taxes, what box it goes 00:22:38.769 --> 00:22:42.630 in, everything. So some things baffle me when 00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:47.269 people are not trying to just further their education. 00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:52.029 Especially when it comes to voting, people are 00:22:52.029 --> 00:22:54.869 not trying to look into the facts. It's just 00:22:54.869 --> 00:22:57.539 everything that we're running. It's just the 00:22:57.539 --> 00:22:59.839 lack of reading. Oh, yeah. Yeah, this is the 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:05.920 lack of reading Looking for looking for actual 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:09.420 facts. That's just what we're lacking, you know 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:12.900 Factual information I thought financial literacy 00:23:12.900 --> 00:23:15.119 was it but it's like no people even if we have 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:22.369 books, I don't know when they read it But, okay, 00:23:22.369 --> 00:23:25.029 I have a question. If you can go back and talk 00:23:25.029 --> 00:23:27.670 to yourself on your very first day of teaching, 00:23:27.890 --> 00:23:36.329 what would you say? I'm hearing you. That's another 00:23:36.329 --> 00:23:49.369 good question. Wow, I don't know. That it's okay. 00:23:50.879 --> 00:23:57.759 to fail in front of the students. It's okay to 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:01.200 fail and be wrong. It's okay to show emotion. 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:04.180 Because we were told those first couple of years, 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:11.400 don't smile until, you know, November. Don't 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:14.859 try to be friends with them. Don't, you know, 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:18.420 all those times that things don't try to connect 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:23.000 with them. So I think... It's okay to do all 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:29.700 those don'ts, you know? Okay, friends is a loose 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:32.160 term, you know, means one thing to the child 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:36.880 and one thing to me. So at least just to know 00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:39.400 the things you like to do, the child likes to 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:41.519 do, you know, and this, those types of things. 00:24:41.660 --> 00:24:44.819 And it's okay, you know, if I... go to their 00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:47.940 baseball game or their soccer game or whatever, 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:52.799 but because it was drilled in us the first couple 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:57.619 of years not to do that, I think I missed out 00:24:57.619 --> 00:25:03.119 on doing that, you know? So I think it would 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:07.920 have been okay to be human for me and to get 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:11.069 to know the students. Okay. You know, smile. 00:25:11.410 --> 00:25:13.789 Yeah. It was hard not smiling now. You know, 00:25:13.829 --> 00:25:19.309 I'm ridiculous and so I wanted, I was trying 00:25:19.309 --> 00:25:21.509 not to smile and that was hard. That was hard. 00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:26.730 Yeah. That had to be hard. That was hard. Yeah. 00:25:26.890 --> 00:25:30.509 I think that's funny because I remember you had 00:25:30.509 --> 00:25:33.750 to smile. back in the days when you were teaching 00:25:33.750 --> 00:25:36.529 your 7th and 8th graders. I was one of those 00:25:36.529 --> 00:25:41.549 7th and 8th graders. You had a smile, but I can 00:25:41.549 --> 00:25:52.940 honestly say the smile didn't last long. oh my 00:25:52.940 --> 00:25:58.400 god it was drilled so i wish that that wasn't 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:01.599 something you remembered okay yeah i definitely 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:04.559 i definitely thought that the smile that you 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:07.319 had because it didn't last long i just just i 00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:10.099 just had this thought like okay maybe she goes 00:26:10.099 --> 00:26:15.559 from happy to sergeant Happy to be ready to teach, 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.619 you know. So I was just like, oh, she just wants 00:26:18.619 --> 00:26:21.819 to show that, oh, I'm nice, but I'm here to teach 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:23.799 you. I'm not here to be your friend. So I thought 00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:25.440 that was just more of the vibe that you were 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:28.140 trying to have a disconnect. Like, OK, I'm friendly, 00:26:28.519 --> 00:26:31.000 but I'm not your friend. So I can be nice to 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:33.759 you, but I'm here to give you the truth, honestly. 00:26:34.299 --> 00:26:36.579 I'm here to be a teacher. So I thought that was 00:26:36.579 --> 00:26:48.730 it. But this was a nice interview and having 00:26:48.730 --> 00:26:51.769 you sit down with me and it was a pleasure having 00:26:51.769 --> 00:26:54.789 you sit down and give me your journey and just 00:26:54.789 --> 00:26:59.210 tell me so openly. you know, how you are navigating 00:26:59.210 --> 00:27:01.769 through that and how you actually persevere through 00:27:01.769 --> 00:27:06.190 that journey. Yes, thank you for inviting me 00:27:06.190 --> 00:27:11.410 to do so. It's been fun. Okay, so I'm gonna end 00:27:11.410 --> 00:27:14.450 this here. Just give me a second. I know I'm 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:18.029 doing it wrong. This is always why I need you. 00:27:20.089 --> 00:27:23.420 Let's see. Okay, I think we got it. Okay. I think 00:27:23.420 --> 00:27:26.039 we was able to get it. I think we got it. Right. 00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:29.980 But how was your day going over there? Yeah, 00:27:29.980 --> 00:27:33.079 like I said, I had to work and people were there. 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:36.740 Mm -hmm. Yeah, it was kind of, it was busy, you 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:39.119 know, trying to be Christmas, get the Christmas 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:43.579 stuff down. One of the things I've noticed that 00:27:43.579 --> 00:27:46.740 a couple of people come through the line and 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:51.809 they're like, they have just One lady had eight 00:27:51.809 --> 00:27:58.269 or ten male pans. There was eight or ten of them 00:27:58.269 --> 00:28:01.230 the same thing and then eight or ten for the 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:04.250 ladies, same pajamas. And she was like, I'm doing 00:28:04.250 --> 00:28:07.569 a theme, everybody's getting pajamas. And I'm 00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:11.690 like, oh, that's a good idea. Thank you to our 00:28:11.690 --> 00:28:15.430 guest, Ms. Blair Conway, for joining us, for 00:28:15.430 --> 00:28:19.460 sharing her journey so openly. Her story offered 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:22.539 real insight into the choices that shape us. 00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:25.759 And if you want more honest conversations about 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.380 life, growth, and the decisions that matter, 00:28:28.859 --> 00:28:31.539 join the community. This is just the beginning. 00:28:32.039 --> 00:28:35.039 Every chapter starts with a choice. Maybe yours 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:36.339 is just hitting that follow button.