I'm feeling a bit of terror mixed up with relief right now. It's a strange cocktail. The relief comes from the fact that as of 1:45pm today, I've given notice at my job and resigned as of the end of my contract in May. The terror comes from the fact that as of 1:45pm today, I've given notice at my job and resigned as of the end of my contract in May.

When it comes to romance, I've given the advice more than once: Rather than wait for THEM to make a decision, why don't YOU make a decision? Today I took my own advice, which hardly anyone ever does and maybe there's good reason. But I'm tired of being told that what I do and how I do it is "wrong for these students, because they're poor... or because they're minority... or because they have ADD... or because they are in Special Education..." If all students CAN learn, and if we hold all students up to reasonable expectations and provide meaningful support for their work, they will achieve. But no, I'm wrong. And I get "coached" to change my views. So rather than wait for someone on the board to ratify a resolution, rather than wait for an administrator to admonish me yet again, I have officially resigned. I even got a receipt from the Executive Director herself.

And so relief and terror. Who quits their job in this downward economy? Who knowingly gives up a position knowing that in the past 12 months, thousands (44,000 since 2009, according to this article) of teachers have been laid off? And before I can get a new job in a new district, said district would have to offer the job first to the teachers who were laid off...

And then there's world travel. How far can a person go on $15,000? How long would that last? Could it last a year, if I stuck to a lot of ground travel and hitchhiked? Could I live for an amazing year as a backpacking nomad and not have to think about finding a new job until after this whole 2012 thing either comes to pass or blows over...?

So while I freak out over all this, just move along and find something more fun to read. I was going to go all "back to the past" and deal with some more bullshit and sort out the nightmares I've been having, but maybe now that I quit my job, all that will start to fade away. I won't worry about it.

But I would like to know... What would you do?