Hit "Send"

I frequently check a website called servingschools.  All schools list all openings, from bus drivers to cooks to teachers to substitutes.  It is where I get the information I need to apply for positions, and every once in a while there is something out of the ordinary posted.  Six days ago just such an opportunity caught my eye, a senior associate position with a nonprofit organization that works with teachers, administrators, and other professionals throughout the state to create teaching and learning models for the 21st century.

Be still my heart.  The thought that such a place might exist has kept alive for 18 years my hopes for education reform.  The idea makes me giddy that this organization provides a forum for conversations, seminars, and support for implementation of changes in our schools.

The reality of submitting an application to this place that I only imagined made me nervous.  Very.

I read and re-read the posting for the position.  Yes, I could do the job.  No, I don't have all the experience they ask for.  Wait, I have the education...and that and that and that....  I shouldn't apply because there will be so many people who will.  What do I have to lose?  Why shouldn't I take a chance?  Where do I begin?

I started working on my resume on Sunday.  The ad calls for someone with varied teaching experiences.  Those I have, but in most recent versions of my resume they have been lumped together in one entry.  Time to separate jobs and list what each added to my experience.  More is more in terms of all I've done.  Less in more in the amount of space it takes to tell my story.  I was determined to keep my resume to two pages.

I worked and reworked those two pages all day yesterday.  If there is any chance that I might qualify I didn't want to leave anything out that might work in my favor.  There is no way to know what might catch the attention of the person who reviews the resumes ~ it can be where I went to school or a place I taught or a name on my reference list. 

Then there is the cover letter, which is a separate entity.  There is no reason to duplicate the information in my resume.  I believe the letter is the chance for someone who has never met me to get a glimpse into what is at the heart of why I want the position.  Many drafts, and many hours, later three sentences construct the middle paragraph:
   

As a teacher I am an advocate for students.  I returned to graduate school to earn a degree in social work because I wanted a better understanding of how to work within a system to create change, how to bring people into the process to explore what is possible.  People have insights and ideas, and progress is made when people work together.   

As usual I let my writing sit overnight.  I made a few final tweaks this morning before I transformed the Word document into a PDF, something new I learned compliments of my youngest son.  I attached the file to an email and hit "send." 

That's a lot of time and energy invested into something that may not amount to anything, except that I now have a completely revised resume that will be appropriate for application to the next interesting position that may come available.

I was so intent on what I was doing that I didn't think twice about answering the phone at 9:15 a.m. with a cheery "Good morning."  The woman was looking for me to ask me to schedule an interview for a long-term substitute position that I had guessed was already filled.  Thursday at 10:30 a.m. it is.

So it's time for a haircut and a settling back down to earth.  That's how it feels to face another interview for a teaching position.  I will go and put my best foot forward because I don't know what's next.  I can only dream....