Teachers In The Coffee Shop in August

The coffee shop in the first weeks of August is a time and place of educators enjoying the last days before another busy school year.

As I was sitting in the coffee shop yesterday, aka my office, a young woman came in and sat at the table next to me. I asked her if she is a student. She told me she is a professor in Biochemistry. She has been one for a few years. She looked younger.

As I sat at my table, I noticed the woman who teaches French at the university. It is now seven summers in a row that we enjoy saying hi to each other chatting all while knowing as soon as the school year starts, we probably won’t see each other again until next summer. 🙂

At another table sat a man who is a professor in Sports Media for the university. He just returned from a trip to Spain with students for a summer study abroad.

With all three the common thing was saying if we don’t see each other in the next few weeks, see you next summer. 🙂

Back to the young professor I mentioned. We commiserated about summer coming to an end. Summertime is coming to an end, the time for educators to refresh, relax, and sleep a bit more. 🙂

That first 6:30 am alarm clock going off is in my not too distant future. She used the word disturbing to describe the experience. I used the word rude. Both are applicable.

That has been a normal conversation for many years for me with fellow educators this time of year. Our other issue we commiserated over is anything but normal. We wondered together what COVID would mean this school year. The past three school years have been disrupted by COVID. It has wrecked havoc on education as a whole. There is that kind of quiet dread wondering what will happen with it this school year.

For me it is more of an annoyance to look past because I do not want to let anything deter me from what teaching is really all about for me. Engaging with students, helping them to learn, connecting with them, is what I love. It has been through teaching ESL, English Second Language, that I have been able to connect with people from all over the world living in my city and to travel to other countries. Best of all, some of those connections have led to opportunities to share Jesus with them.

So while my summer is winding down, I look forward to new adventures in learning, renewing connections with returning students, and meeting new students.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.