At the ripe old age of 38, with two kids in tow, I figured it was about time to expand my horizons a little more than moving back into higher education. It was apparent that returning to employment, whilst doing a degree and raising a family, was going to be a little daunting, and quite overwhelming. Nevertheless, I've gone through worse!
So this morning, I started my day with utter chaos, almost forgetting that I should wake up the kids before leaving the house, choosing to focus on a day of meetings and induction training for the new position of Student Mentor. Seriously, they seem to have a 'built in alarm' during the 2am feedings... this really is the average 8 year old's responsibility...... but I digress.
Having previously felt nauseous through my anxiety, the chaos of this morning's routine was thankfully a welcome distraction. By the time I had walked into the conference room, almost full of unfamiliar faces, I was living in ignorant bliss with the sole concern of simply sitting down for a minute - then the dread suddenly hit!
Realising I had no idea what I was doing, or suddenly where I was even, I immediately went for the ultimate defence for my anxiety.... start talking continuously and give others the impression I was super confident, and possibly mentally disturbed. That way, I'll have done my bit, and can expect others input for the rest of the day. Not quite...
Within minutes, we were being coerced into participating in team engaging activities, challenging us to think about why we wanted the Student Mentor role, what the position entailed, and what type of support we could offer. Within 10 minutes, we had all relaxed significantly (wine really is well disguised in a coffee cup!), and the initial adrenaline rush had subsided, so we were now able to identify the budding personalities within our group. There were some who were quiet, and needed slight encouragement, those excited to be involved and highly inquisitive, and of course, those who were so anxious, they couldn't stop talking (no clues!).
Anyhoo, four hours later....
I now am ready to make a life long commitment to this group... possibly more than I was to my ex-husband!! We have been fantastically engaged in each other, finding qualities that may otherwise been missed, but are now realised, to compliment our individual personalities, and likely .... idiosyncrasies!! It's going to be a perfect year, from here... :-p
