{"id":310,"date":"2010-05-20T02:22:59","date_gmt":"2010-05-20T09:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writeolive.com\/?p=77"},"modified":"2010-05-20T02:22:59","modified_gmt":"2010-05-20T09:22:59","slug":"to-like-or-not-to-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/?p=310","title":{"rendered":"To Like or Not to Like"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Theresa<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Theresa Milstein is a writer of middle grade and YA fantasy novels. She’s also a substitute teacher. Read about her adventures in writing and subbing at <\/em>http:\/\/theresamilstein.blogspot.com<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is by going into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.\u00a0 Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Joseph Campbell<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yesterday, after receiving an unclear assignment with no plans on the teacher\u2019s desk, I was relieved to find out the woman next door received an e-mail with instructions for the day.\u00a0 I\u2019m a substitute teacher (also known as a supply or relief teacher) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

It wound up being a dream class, quiet and well behaved.\u00a0 As I walked around to assist students working on their biography projects, a girl asked, \u201cDo you like being a substitute teacher?\u201d\u00a0 How to answer that question to a ten-year-old?\u00a0 Can you define \u201clike\u201d?<\/em>\u00a0 I paused.\u00a0 My answer came out high pitched and stretched out.\u00a0 \u201cSure.\u00a0 It\u2019s okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Truth is, I don\u2019t like subbing. Unless I receive a sub job the previous evening, I rise at 5:25 am, anticipating a call.\u00a0 I often have to prove myself as the authority to children who salivate when they see a substitute.\u00a0 When I exit a classroom, I have to figure out which direction to go.\u00a0 Where\u2019s the teacher\u2019s room?\u00a0 Bathroom?\u00a0 I don\u2019t get paid as much or receive benefits (sick days, holidays, and vacations) like full-time teachers.\u00a0 And when I first enter the school, I have to figure out how adequate the plans are, if they exist at all.\u00a0 Each day I fall into the abyss and crawl my way out.<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, I\u2019d be paid to write.\u00a0 But since that hasn\u2019t happened yet, I need a day job.\u00a0 And if the job isn\u2019t too taxing, I write during my \u201cprep\u201d periods.\u00a0 I have no work to take home, even if I\u2019m exhausted by the end of the day.\u00a0 And most gigs, even if they start off unsure like this one did, wind up not being so bad.<\/p>\n

Besides wanting to be a full-time writer, I also want to be a History teacher.\u00a0 With the bad economy, there are many candidates for scant positions.\u00a0 But when I do get a job, my writing time will diminish.\u00a0 Since I don\u2019t want the last several years of writing to be a phase, I have to treasure my free periods and days off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theresa Milstein is a writer of middle grade and YA fantasy novels. She’s also a substitute teacher. Read about her adventures in writing and subbing at http:\/\/theresamilstein.blogspot.com \u201cIt is by going into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.\u00a0 Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.\u201d – Joseph Campbell\u00a0 Yesterday, after receiving an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}