Be Careful What You Wish For

A little over two years ago, I came home after a frustrating day at school and spouted off about how much better it would be to teach online. And so I began searching for online teaching positions and trekked back to school the next day.

After Bo was born and we knew we were ready to start seriously looking at living in a different area, I started searching for online teaching positions more seriously. On a whim, during one of Bo’s afternoon naps, I applied to a school. Several weeks later, I received an email asking me to answer some questions. I did that and advanced to the phone interview. From there I went through training and the mentorship. Suddenly, I found myself teaching college English, and I’m not really sure how it happened.

Then, being the crazy person I am, I wonder if I can turn this into a career. I search Amazon and purchased this book. I joined the author’s Yahoo! group. They post a lot of job openings on the site and recently a blog was created to post all of the adjunct teaching positions. Being the crazy person that I am, I thought, well, it can’t hurt to apply for a few jobs. So I did.

Now, I am teaching for one school, training for another school, and I have a second interview Wednessday for yet another school that would be a full-time position. Plus, I still want to keep my pinkie finger on the yearbook at the high school. And oh yeah, there is that little thing called being Bo’s mom. And Mike’s wife. And my mom’s daughter. And a homeowner. You get the idea.

How on earth, during a recession, when the economy has absolutely tanked, am I facing the possibility of four paid positions? Apparently there is a high demand for online teachers.

I know, I should be grateful. Most people would kill to be in this position. But I’m not grateful. I’m angry at myself for applying for all of these positions. I am confused because I am not sure which position is the best one for me. I hate having to make so many decisions about my career in such a short amount of time.

Sometimes we all need to be reminded to be careful what we wish for. Even the good things can bite you in the ass.