My life in the Outback 5 months on

I’m now 5 months into my stay as a teacher of the Outback.  Not everything has gone according to plan but I’m making the best of it. I’ve recently changed my position in the school which wasn’t something that I wanted to do. However, it has given me new opportunities which will be good for my career. Instead of being a classroom teacher, I am now a learning support teacher. It means that I help students from various classes who are struggling with literacy and numeracy. It is a rewarding job to teach students who are falling behind. They don’t always want to be helped but I keep trying anyways.

Besides school, I have grown very comfortable in this town. It rained heavily a few months ago so the desert is a nice green. Well… as green as a desert can get. It will never be lush in the desert and while the plants are green, they are still rough sparse and pointy looking things. It’s almost spring and I look forward to anything that will bloom here.

Another thing I am looking forward to in spring is Spring Break! I’ve learnt my lesson when it comes to school holidays and that is to have all my work finished before I leave for vacation. The last time around, I decided to go on vacation in the first week and then finish my work on the second week. It was a mistake as I had unexpected delays.  I ended up doing all my work during the weekend before school would start. I nearly had a breakdown.

I will have my 30^th birthday in the holidays. I am planning to go back to Brisbane and have a big night out with my girlfriends. I was thinking about doing a spa day.