Perceptions of Self

I'm beginning to realize, once again, how important my image is as a teacher. We began crew practices last week and I met a bunch of the students, many of whom I will be teaching in a few short weeks. The thing is, I never would've seen my old Buffalo Public School students in any place I truly cared about. Maybe in my car as I drove by a bus stop, but that's it. I switch to a little private girls school and what happens? Not one day after the first crew practice I go to a concert (great free concerts in the summer here) and when I happen to have two beers in my hands, three of them walk by. Sigh. Not that I can't drink, but it looks...not so hot. I am excited to get with students who actually care, however. Plus--listen to this--the chick from downtown who's head of English told me that I got bumped for a contracted teacher, so I wouldn't have been going back to my old school anyway! I guess things happen the way they do for a reason.

Different note, same idea of image: I have to confess I bought the Winsor Pilates DVD. You know the infomercial, the one where the celebrities talk about how they lost inches off their waists and can now fit into clothing they wore in middle school?

I called within the “next twelve minutes”, so I got the whole thing for $10 (plus S&H, of course). With a wedding coming up and a dress to fit into, I figure if 20 minutes of concentrated pilates a day can help, why not give it a shot? Plus with all this biking I’m doing, I know I’m getting extra exercise. I have grand plans of riding the bike to work in the morning until it gets too cold or too sloppy out; hopefully I can stay true to this. I’m inspired by my youngest sister, C., who walked almost an hour to work and ran home to train for a half-marathon. But that girl is dedicated; I often try to take a leaf out of her book when it comes to focusing on getting work done. There’s a reason why she went through Yale with a terrific GPA.

So those are my image thoughts, although when it comes down to it, the most important image is the one I have of myself as a healthy person who does the best she can for herself and those around her.