As many of you know, I am preparing to take my Praxis II test. I fell into the fortunate category of needing to finish my testing without having to take refresher courses in spite of having been out of the system for 7 years. Wow!
One might think that this would be an easy obstacle to overtake. One would be incorrect. I have been reading, and reading, and yes more reading. I have been typing my old notes. I am really glad that I kept those. Whereas my new self integration into collegiate coursework has its perks, the discipline to maintain focus and push myself into doing this is much harder. I no longer have the pressure of fellow students to worry about. I no longer have the support of the instructors. I also no longer have the insistence of the teachers to attend and research this material. What I do have is constant distractions and fatigue from a hard day’s work. This coupled with growing responsibilities of raising two girls and helping my wife in whatever she may need. Becky has been very optimistic about this endeavor, which means the heat is on.
My biggest pressure throughout college was the fear of failure and embarrassment. Now the biggest pressures have grown exponentially. This one test could literally change the lives of all those in my family. It is the difference of what I may do and what my family does. It also has the chance of changing the way that my family looks at my profession. It could open doorways that would not have been available before. Sheesh, more pressure.
I know I would be a good teacher. I loved the experience of teaching before. Not to be too bold, but I enjoyed it and was successful. The biggest hitch is this dang test. Then it would be up to chance and God’s wishes as to whether I should be in a classroom again.
For now, however, it is back to the books. I am currently reading The Americans by Daniel Boorstin. He is obviously a well learned and researched man. He makes some good analysis, but is a little dry. Sigh. The curse of history. It does tend to be a little dry sometimes. Now what page was I on……