Back Again With Some Good News

Greetings, I have decided to come back AGAIN after another one of those unannounced hiatuses of mine (Jesus, I am such a bad blogger).

Since September, I have been working as a paraprofessional at for teenagers with behavior disorders for a school in Kansas.  In addition, I have had an evening job working as a tutor for reading and math skills.  I have worked these jobs with near-complete enjoyment, but always with the main goal of obtaining another full-time teaching position.

The reason for this most recent hiatus, quite honestly, was the stress of looking for a new teaching job was getting to me (again).  I slipped into that unhealthy, depressed state that I had last year while looking for a job.  Self-doubt became my closest frienemy.  I started smoking again, I was not sleeping very well and all I could obsess on nearly every minute of every day was whether or not I would ever teach again.

Before I go any further on that issue, I would first like to give an update on a student I spent a lot of time with, and blogged about during my paraprofessional work experience.  I continued to work with this particular student throughout the school year, but with a month or two left, the student was getting in trouble so often that his parents were afraid at some point, he may end up getting himself in trouble with the law at school.  He exited our program, and entered another program with less emphasis on academics, and more on behavior treatment.  As unfortunate as it was that he reached this point, I know it was the right thing for this young man.  I can look back on my work with him, and know I did the best I could.  I do question whether he got anything academically out of this program, but I know for a fact that both he and his parents were satisfied with job that I and the other staff members did in working with him. 

The other, much more positive news I wanted to share is that I WILL BE TEACHING AGAIN!



A small school district on the Missouri side of the Kansas City border has hired me to work with middle school students who have behavior disorders.  In addition to an impressive interview, I can also give credit to this most recent employment news to the experience I obtained this past year as a paraprofessional.  Even after I accepted the offer, I continued to receive phone calls for other job interviews.  All of these were with fine school districts, but I knew the opportunities afforded to me with this position were too numerous to turn down.  The administrators of the school informed me that I would be given a lot of freedom and responsibility for what happens with my students at school.  In addition, I am in charge of only a half-dozen students, I have very little paperwork, and I can set my schedule as I please for most of the day.  Translation: I get to spend more time actually helping students.

This, as well as some other things going on in my life, has me feeling more optimistic about my future than I probably have ever felt in my entire life.  What better time than now to start up my blog again? 

For readers of this blog (what few of you currently exist), let me reiterate (as I have in the past) that this may not be the last hiatus my blog ever encounters.  Ongoing events in my life - both personal and professional - will dictate the volume of activity this blog will see.  In the meantime, I hope you will read and enjoy.

What Teachers Make

I just watched this video and felt the immediate urge to post it.  It inspires me and reminds me of some of the reasons why I originally became a teacher.  And as much as I enjoy my job as a para, I cannot wait to have my own classroom and be called a "teacher" again.

First Day Back/Highlight of the Day

Today was the first day back at work after winter break.  I was greatly concerned, and quite convinced, that the autistic student I have been working with would have a really bad day transitioning with his behavior after two weeks away from school.  I would have considered today a success if we made it without him getting physical with staff, as opposed cussing me out, which is what he normally does.  Instead, he surprised me by having an absolutely fantastic day.  He went to all his classes, he completed all of his assignments, and he never so much as said a single bad word or inappropriate comment.  When he is having a good day like that, he is as pleasant a student any teacher could ask for.  I know that at some point, he will start acting out again, and have to leave the classroom.  I just hope that when it does, it is not on a regular basis like it was last semester.  Let's hope we can build upon the progress made from last semester.

On a separate note, I would like to share a funny story from today.  I was helping out in a Social Studies class, and they were talking about the Iowa Caucus.  One of the other paras in the room was talking about remembering when the state of Iowa decided to change their caucus to January so they could be one of the earliest states in the country to help decide the nominations.  A student in the classroom with Asperger's raised his hand and gave the following comment "So, what you are telling me is that Iowa is a very self-obsessed state."

I was apparently the only other person in the room who thought it was funny, because I was the only one to laugh.

Work Update

Recently, I have been rather hesitant to write new "Highlight of the Day" segments of my blog. This is something that is supposed to force me to update my blog on a near-daily basis by talking about an interesting or funny story from work.  Currently, my work is being a one-on-one with a young man who has autism.  These days, my job consists mostly of the same schedule everyday.

In the morning, my student comes to school, and we spend the first few hours of school dealing with bad behavior.  These includes inappropriate language and topics of conversation, violent and threatening language, hitting and kicking objects, and throwing objects.  When he get's angry and aggressive (and there isn't always a reason why he gets angry), I become the primary target of his aggression because I spend the most time with him.  So far, I have been kicked, spit on, and had various objects thrown at me.  Some of this behavior is work avoidance, and some of it is his Torette's.  Depending on the day, there is little or any school work that gets done by lunch.  He goes to lunch, and usually takes a nap (a product of the different types of medicine he is on).  By the time he wakes up, he has time to do maybe one or two assignments.  There are usually less than 2 hours left by the time we reach this point in the school day.  With maybe an occasional exception here and there, my student's schedule goes like this everyday.

I guess I have been hesitant to write about my job because, frankly, I haven't felt like writing about it.  At times, my job is fascinating and silly (he can be a really funny and sweet kid).  At other times, it is frustrating and downright depressing.  I feel so bad for the emotional roller coaster that his mind takes him on from hour-to-hour.  A lot of nights, the last thing I want to do is sit down and write about these difficult days in an internet post.  I hope readers will understand where I am coming from.

That doesn't mean I won't ever share any stories.  For instance, my student was talking about Monty Python yesterday, and he did his impression of the monks who hit themselves from The Holy Grail.  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time, and I know the other adults in the room thought it was funny too (by the way, he didn't actually hit himself).  For those of you who have never seen The Hold Grail and don't know what I'm talking about: first of all, SHAME ON YOU FOR NOT SEEING IT.  Go rent it right now.  Secondly, here are the monks who hit themselves.

Highlight of the Day: 10/12/11

Today at work, I received a new assignment for my job.  For the foreseeable future, I will be an all day, one-on-one para with for a young man who is new at our school.  In addition to a behavior disorder, this particular also has a PDD NOS (part of the autism spectrum), a speech disorder, and is intellectually disabled.  Because I am the only staff member (including certified teachers) who has experience working with ID students in the building, I was a natural fit for the position.

He is a very sweet, young man who unfortunately had a major meltdown on his first day at the school.  They put him right into the main classrooms at our school, which was obviously going to work for this young man.  For the time being, we are keeping him away from students and classes, and letting him get adjusted into the new environment.  Gradually, as he adapts to the new school, we will start letting him attend class, and work on more and more assignments.  In the meantime, I am trying to work with him on a little academics here and there (primarily to see where he is at academically), with frequent breaks in between.  I am also taking time to bond with him, so I can get to know him, and vice versa so he can have someone to feel comfortable with at school.

I am very excited to have been given this opportunity, and it is a major responsibility on my part.  Unfortunately, there is a first impression of what this young man is already like among many of the staff members and students due to his behavior on his first day.  One of the things I am trying to do now is to convey to others that this is actually a very nice young man who will act out if we don't work with him in the appropriate manner. 

Highlight of the Day: 10/3/2011

Today, we did not work with students.  Instead, the teachers attended numerous in service meetings, and the paras watched training videos.  One video we watched really hit home with my old teaching job: teaching life skills to Intellectually Disabled students.

Specifically, the video was about teaching what is known as "The Hidden Curriculum" to students with Autism.  What this refers to is the instruction of skills to students revolving around social etiquette and what is generally considered common sense behavior in social situations that most of us learn as we grow up (without ever really being taught).  Examples includes when is the appropriate time to use profanity (not around adults or certain social situations), using tactful conversation with someone you may not see eye to eye with, or even when is it appropriate time and place to pick or scratch at oneself (that includes ALL of their body parts).

Some good examples of what an Autistic student might need to learn can be found on the video below.  You may want to mute the volume as you don't need it, and the music playing in the background repeats itself over and over (it gets quite annoying):




As the speaker in the video shared examples of the hidden curriculum, I kept thinking of the different autistic students I worked with.  At my current job, we have several students with Asperger's Syndrome, though I don't work with them as much as work with students who have conduct disorders and severe mental illness.  I hope that in the future, I get the opportunity to work with more students who have Autism, as they are an immense pleasure to work with.

Highlight of the Day: 9/26/2011

Two other paras and I are sitting in a classroom today trying to get students to do their work, which they wouldn't do.  One of the paras kept going up to one of the students every 30 seconds and asking him to start his work.  This particular student was on the computer looking for music to listen to on his headphones, and insisted he would start his work once he found the right music.  This para continued to harp on him several times over the course of the class period.  Finally, the para walked over to the classroom next door (not once, but twice) and tried to have the teacher there get him to work and threaten him with punishment.  By the end of the hour, the student had received an office referral for arguing with her, and never started his work.

Now, was the student was avoiding his work with the use of the computer?  Of course.  And this particular para was correct in trying to get him to start his work.  However, she was doing it in a way that only aggravated him and made him not want to do his work even more. 

If I were a supervising teacher, I would have pulled her to the side and told her "He didn't start his work when you bugged him 30 seconds ago.  What makes you think he is going to start at this moment?"  I would have also told her that she should ask him to start his work, walk away for about 3-5 minutes, come back and try to get him to work then.  If he hadn't started his work then, give him a warning, go way for another 2-3 minutes, and then give him a consequence if he hadn't started.  But since I was a fellow para (and one that has only worked there for about 3 weeks), I kept my nose out of the situation and let her dig her own grave.  My suggestions may or may not have worked, but what she was doing damn sure didn't work.  Also, the classroom teacher who she went and grabbed was not pleased being interrupted with her plan time. 

I can empathize with this para, and most paras like her, who want to jump right in and get the students to do their work when they aren't doing it.  But as someone who has supervised paras in the past, one problem I feel needs to be addressed is that sometimes, less is more.  This is especially true with students who have behavior problems (as all of the students in our program do).  For a student that isn't complying, but aren't disrupting or hurting anyone, it's not very complicated: instruct the student; give them the warning; come back later, and if they still aren't complying, then give a consequence.  Simple and effective. 

Highlight of the Day: 9/23/2011

OK, so this is a day late.  Sorry, I couldn't help that.

Yesterday was a workday for staff, and teachers had meetings and parent-teacher conferences.  We did have a staff meeting in between, and the staff got to talking about classroom safety issues.  My supervising teacher volunteered to work on a committee to come up with new ideas for classroom safety.  Because the last school I worked at was so safety intensive, I though I might be able to help out, so I quietly volunteered my name to her.  She then volunteered my name to the committee in front of the whole program staff (including the program director).  So in less than a month at my para job, I have become part of my first school committee.  It feels pretty good to be helping out, it makes me look good to my superiors, and I get to put that down on my resume. 

Highlight of the Day: 9/22/2011

I was showing a new para around the school today, and I took her into the ISS room, and introduced her to some of the students with her.  One student greeted her with a "Fuck You".  She is already part of the team.  Later that day, he called me a "Fucking Dick."

While I am still enjoying working with the students, I will say I am starting to look forward to a workday without them tomorrow.

Highlight of the Day: 9/21/2011

Me and another para are trying to teach a reading lesson to a class of students and it is not going well, because of all the misbehavior and distractions that are going on.  Oh, did I mention this was a class of 2 students.

I ended up taking one student, and he ended up taking another.  That seemed to work quite well.

Highlight of the Day: 9/8/2011

I thought I would be spending the whole day with the students, but that didn't quite work out well.  I got a call from the HR department at the school district I'm working and was told I must turn in some additional paperwork before I can work.  Fortunately, the teacher I am working with was understanding and said to take my time.  So, I spent the first half of the day taking care of more paperwork.

During the afternoon, I got to meet some of the students, and we went on a short field trip to a job site as part of their class on vocational skills.  Currently, I am standing back and doing a lot of watching, so I didn't interact with many of the students.  With many education positions, it can be a good thing to just jump right in.  With this job, it is different.  As my assigned classroom teacher told me, you don't want to start telling these students what to do too soon.  One bad first impression and you may never be able to regain their trust.  Indeed, when I start trying to correct misbehavior, I want to make sure I already have a good rapport established. 

A couple of other notes:

-To the other students, I am considered another teacher.  While I am not considered a main classroom teacher, in the eyes of the students, I have as much authority as any other staff member.  This is extremely reassuring.  In too many classrooms, when a para tries to tell a student what to do, the student will reply with something along the lines of "You can't tell me what to do, you are just a para."  They even refer to me as Mr.and my last name.  Paras went by their first names in my last school district.

-I saw a lot of behavior from students that at other schools would be addressed with detention and office referrals.  Specifically: cussing, name calling and making threats.  At this program, these are met with verbal warnings, looks of disapproval and points being taken off on behavior charts.  This is definitely a whole different ball game I am dealing with.

Highlight of the Day: 9/7/2011

Today was my first day at my new paraprofessional job . . . sort of.  Most of the day was spent in orientation meetings.  Learning about benefits, professional development, going through paperwork, watching training videos, etc.

The last hour of the day, I got to meet the teacher I will be working with most of the time, and another para that will be in the same classroom as me.  I also got to see the classroom I will be spending most of my day in, and learn a little bit about the students I will work with.  I don't get to work with any of them until tomorrow, but let's just say I will be coming home with lots of interesting stories.  I didn't think that would be possible compared to my last job, but this just might have me beat. 

For instance, she let me look at a student's behavior notes for the day.  Several times I saw in the notes where he called the teacher "bitch" and said "fuck you", and had to be escorted to the cool down room (and this was considered a good day for him).  I am also told I am going to be the brunt of a lot of profanity and verbal abuse from students, and there is very little I can do to help the situation.  These are students who have been taken out of their regular classrooms so they can work on behavior modifications. 

Right now, I should be sweating bullets and freaking out, but I am actually excited.  Perhaps that will change, but right now, I'm ready to go.

My New Job

Tomorrow, I start my new job as a paraprofessional.  As I have mentioned before, I will be working with teenagers who primarily have Behavior Disorders.  For those who are not involved with public education, you may be asking yourself a couple of questions: First, what is a "Paraprofessional"?  Second, what constitutes a "Behavior Disorder"?

To begin with, a paraprofessional is similar to an aid or a teacher's assistant. Often times, they work with individual students or in small groups with students who have special needs (legally, those who have an IEP). 

While not always the most reliable source for information, Wikipedia has a pretty good description of the typical duties of a paraprofessional (or "para" for short):

Paraprofessional educators generally assist teachers in the classroom, supervise students outside of the classroom, or provide administrative support for teaching.^[2] Job duties range from filling teaching positions to supplementing regular classroom curriculum with additional enrichment activities for students. Other positions include classroom aides, special education aides, school library technical assistants, and tutors.
Some paraprofessionals work directly with students, in which case they may listen to students practice reading aloud, help students understand and complete their assignments, or assist students with special needs.^[2]
Many paraprofessionals are assigned to supervise groups of students who are eating, playing outside, or on field trips. They may be assigned to perform clerical work for a teacher, in which case they may grade assignments, type up records for attendance or grades, set up equipment, and help prepare materials for instruction, e.g., by making photocopies of worksheets.^[2]
Many teacher assistants work primarily or exclusively with students who have special educational needs. Their duties vary according to the needs of the student, and may include physical care for students who are unable to care for themselves (such as feeding, lifting, moving, or cleaning), behavioral management, or academic assistance.^[2]
The role of the Paraprofessional Educator is constantly evolving. Today, more than ever, paraprofessionals are teaching lessons, working with small groups for remediation, leading extracurricular clubs/sports and are no longer simply the "Teacher's Aide" of the past.

As for students with Behavior Disorders, there are a couple of ways to look at it.  First, there is the official definition of IDEA (the official federal law outlining what special education is).  It is technically called "Emotional Disturbances":

"(i) The term means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

(A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

(ii) The term includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance" (CFR §300.7 (a) 9).

Secondly, there is the broader version of students who have "behavior disorders".  To the best of my understanding, I will be working with more than just students who fall under the legal definition under IDEA.  They can have any other disability (or multiple disabilities) outlined in IDEA, but they have difficulty functioning in a regular classroom.  For more information on Behavior Disorders, I found education.com has a solid and thorough overview.

By the way, if you stumble across this blog and find that I misstated something about the nature of behavior disorders (or paraprofessionals for that matter), or that I should add something, please don't hesitate to comment or contact me on Twitter.  I want to make sure I am as accurate as possible.  In addition, I will let you know more specific details of my job in the next couple of days once I have actually started working.  I'm ready to go!

Being a Teacher During These Times

Here comes another post where I blab about my personal problems, as well as re-post comments I made on another blog.  I don't intentionally do it, it just keeps happening.

I read this amazing blog post by Political Kick blog about the, uh, joys being married to a public school teacher.  It broke my heart reading it, because I know my wife has stated similar stuff before about being married to me.  An excerpt:

It is hardest for me to be married to a teacher because if you have the privilege of knowing one like my wife, you know that it will be hard to ever live up to the fierce dedication, commitment, and love that keeps them going. That despite the salary cuts and the hate, the misrepresentation of their work and the impossibility of the demands, they will push on. 

What I know is that I am married to a woman who loves what she does and her students so much that that she would gladly break herself for them. This breaks my heart: Not because of how much it hurts her to keep trying, but from the sheer pride I feel to stand with her every step of the way. 

Here is what I posted in the comments section.  I started writing it, and felt it deserved it's own post about halfway through:

I was a special education teacher for the past 2 years. I know exactly the cost, hours, and struggles you are writing about. And so does my wife. She married me a few weeks before I began my first year as a teacher. It was often a very difficult and trying first year of our marriage. Not only because of the extra hours I worked, but also because of the financial burden we were under. Things got a little better as time went on, but this past year, my contract was not renewed (not tenured, budget cuts). I tried not to take it too personally, but it definitely felt like all the hours and hard work I put in were unappreciated by my school. 

I have a new job as a paraprofessional. While it doesn't pay nearly what a teacher's salary is (which is not much to begin with), I am still glad to have a job in education. It is what I love to do more than anything in the world.  


What I find interesting is that a few years ago, teachers were considered overworked and underpaid by almost every politician in America. Now, in this economy, and budgets being what they are, many consider teachers having it easy. To some extent, we do have it easy when comparing how teachers are doing to so many others in this economy. 

But rather than helping those who are in need, politicians pick on teachers, and insist they need to have it hard too (when it is already a difficult job). Rather than raising taxes on the wealthy to help the poor and unemployed, we make cuts to services (including education) for those who need it the most. I know that one day, I will be teaching in a public school again. I can only hope that the climate for teachers changes for the better by them (but we may have to fight for it). 

Back for Good (for now anyways)

Photo from NewsLetterTree

The last time I published anything on this blog, I had recently found out I lost my high school teaching job, and I was starting to look for a new teaching position.  I promised that I would try to keep my blog going, but given that my last blog post was five months ago, I guess that didn't quite work out.  I can tell you that the last time I posted, I was feeling pretty optimistic about my future. 

But I can only spend so much time feeling sorry for myself.  A short period of self-pity is quite necessary, but overdoing it is not going to help me be a better teacher, or find me a new job.  So, I dove headfirst into the job hunt, and I have been there ever since. 

Turns out the job hunt was more difficult that I thought it would be.  I had numerous job interviews in the past five months, all of which got my hopes up, but only to lead to disappointment when I didn't get it.  Sometimes, I didn't interview as well as I would have liked to.  Sometimes, I gave a good interview, but someone else did better.  I even had one interview at a charter school in Kansas City that was combative and quite bizarre (I will share that story another day).  The point is, with education cuts being what they are in these times, the amount of teachers looking for new jobs is pretty astonishing, and makes for a difficult job hunt (even in special education where there is always a need). That new teaching job never came.

Not only did my self-pity return, but it became a chronic condition.  At times, I grew quite bitter and depressed.  I was already out of shape with little to no exercise, a poor diet, and constantly stressed before my job loss.  I added the habit of smoking to my "healthy" lifestyle (I have now mostly quit).  I was not only worried about my future financially, I began to wonder whether I wasted my time and money going back to school a few years back to become a teacher.  I knew I love what I did, but was all this an indication that I'm not a good teacher, or that I don't deserve to teach?  

When I talked to one of my supervisors shortly after hearing the news about my non-renewal, I promised that I would try to stay positive and not let this effect my job.  She said that while I had a good attitude, that would probably not last.  At some point, the reality of the news would hit me, and I might need to take a day for myself.  To some extent, she was incorrect.  I never "took a day for myself", and there wasn't an exact moment where the news "hit me".  As for the work in my remaining time at the High School, I never really faltered in my duties as a teacher or case manager.  I knew the responsibilities of my job (and to my students) were too important.  However, I got very lax in some of the ways I approached different rules set out for teachers (dress code, showing up late, leaving early, etc.)  I always told myself the same thing: "what are they going to do, fire me?" For the most part, the point my supervisor was trying to make was correct.  Slowly, the reality of my situation did get to me. 

I decided shortly after my last blog post, whenever the feelings of depression and self-pity started occurring more, I did not want to continue posting for a while (certainly while I didn't have a new job lined up).  I did not want my personal problems and negative attitude to be the focus this blog, which it would have been.  I started using my Twitter account again a couple of months back, and expressed some of my frustrations there (in the form of 140 characters or less).  But that is not what I want this blog to be about.  I vowed to myself that I would stop blogging until things in my life were a little more in order.  I made no announcement of this, I just stopped.

Well, as this post indicates, I'm starting again.  About a month ago, I started doing math and reading tutoring  at a company in Overland Park, KS a couple nights a week.  It doesn't pay much, but the fact they wanted me to work there gave me a major boost of confidence that I hadn't felt in months.  Then, a couple of days ago, a technical center in Northeast Kansas hired me as a paraprofessional.  I start next week, and I will be working with high school students who have Behavior Disorders.

Granted, I would much rather have a regular teaching job, but for now, I am happy with this job.  For starters, I get to work in a really excellent school district that could lead to something better in the future.  Plus, since I don't have to plan lessons or work on IEPs, I have more time to do other things I like (exercising, reading, hanging out with my wife, and blogging of course).  More importantly, I will continue to do what I love: educate and help young people with special needs (just in a different capacity).  Financially, things are still up in the air.  The pay cut I get with this job is pretty significant.  However, my wife recently interviewed with a company that pays pretty well, and will hopefully be hired there pretty soon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

These past few months have been some of the most difficult and stressful months of my life.  This whole experience has probably been as demoralizing as anything I have ever gone through.  Sometimes, an experience like mine provides some type of life lesson, but I haven't found any yet.  All I know is that I am as positive about life and the future as I have been in months.  As far as this blog goes, I hope to continue to write about a variety of issues surrounding education, politics, and other topics of interest.  There is so much I have missed writing about these past few months that I regret not writing about.  These include the SOS March, the GOP Presidential Campaign, the death of Osama Bin Laden, and the continuous uprisings in the Arab World. I can't promise I won't ever go on hiatus again, but for right now, it feels good to be back and writing.

By the way, I want to update you on a student that I talked about in March who I was trying to help graduate.

One student, in particular, will make me especially proud if he can get to graduation.  He has spent the past year largely absent from school.  He comes from a very at-risk background full of poverty and crime.  Our biggest worry at school was that he was doomed to drop out and eventually go to prison.  Now, after a couple of times going through juvenile imprisonment, he has had a sudden change of heart.  He is coming to his classes, doing all of his work, and taking extra courses through credit recovery.  Suddenly, he is on track to graduate in May.  He has promised to get back on track before, only to fall right back off track.  But it does feels different this time: his attitude is more motivated, and his positive behavior is more consistent.  I just hope he can keep doing what he is doing for a couple more months.  A high school diploma will by no means ensure a secure future for him, but it does significantly increase his chances.  If he walks across that stage with his gown and gap, and receives his diploma, it will certainly be one of the proudest moments of my career. 

For a while, he missed a few classes, and started slacking again.  But in the final few weeks of school, he got his butt in gear, brought his grades up, and I am proud to say he walked out with his diploma in May.  What happens from here on out is up to him, and I do worry that he may fall into a lifestyle that will wind up with negative consequences.  But I also know that a student like him, without the support he received from myself and others, would likely have dropped out at other schools.  I am so proud that I got to leave my job with that accomplishment.  It is something I will never forget.  I will end this post with the words I ended in that post.

These are the reasons why I love what I do.  I can only hope that my next job will provide these same types of opportunities.