I interviewed to be a para (para-professional, sorta like a teacher's aide) this past Thursday. The interview went really well, I think I not only one them over with charm but also with my desire to become a social worker. It's funny, but I was basically offered the position, though, because the administrators at the school wanted to incorporate the parents more into the mix, I had to be interviewed by the mom of the kid I'd be working with. Right away. An hour into interviewing, we're shuttling down Fulton heading towards to the DOE's offices on Livingston. The mother scrutinized my resume more than the administrators did, but I appreciate that she was so involved in her child's schooling, how many parents can we make that same claim about?
Afterward, since I knew a pal of mine, X, works for the DOE, I decided to see if he happened to work in the same building and as it turns out, he was just down the street. As we took a stroll down Cadman, enjoying the beautiful Spring weather, we chatted about the new gig, going to school late (we're both in the process of attaining our degrees, though I'm pretty sure he's farther along) and talking about our aspirations. We also talked about futbol and getting gear for it. I've been obsessed with it recently, it's my new love and I'm completely absorbed in becoming a better player, anyone that knows me knows that team sports aren't really my thing. Watching Messi play and others like him, Drogba, Xavi, Ozil, Rooney, Bale ... the list goes on, all those players exhibit such skill, with their feet, no less, that I'm inspired to push myself to see what I can do.
I left X at the post office on Cadman, continuing to walk down to the High St. stop on the AC line. It's been a while since I walked around that area, if I'm not mistaken the last time I was there, walking along the park, was with Skye, we'd walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to pick up her cousin Maria who was staying at the Hilton on Tillary. I have fond memories of that area, I used to work at Plymouth After-school with Shola and his crazy ass friend Peter, our supervisor, who turned out to be unstable, in our collective opinion. (Oh Peter ....)
While on the platform, I walked down to the end so that I'd be in the first car and after letting a C train pass, who should I run into? Cassie Cass, all grown and shit. There are so many stories with her, sneaking Bacardi into venues, of house parties around Brooklyn, crazy stuff that you're supposed to do in your early twenties, and now she was telling me that she's going to school for Construction Management. Every one grows up, everyone slows down, and chances are if you don't, it'll catch up with you, you can't be 21 for ever, not saying you shouldn't be young but some things, some memories I def don't care to repeat now that I'm .... in my late twenties.
The moving didn't stop once home, I rushed over to get a haircut, jogged home for a shower before heading to my last tutoring session with one of the more bright students I have/had. On the way back home, I walked from the 82nd St. stop on the 7 to 74th, thinking a lot about what I'm going to do once I start this job. It'll mean a healthy amount of income, I can finally save a good amount and possibly, if I'm really disciplined, head to El Salvador (ES) for a month or maybe the entire summer and get acquainted with the mother land finally. I could work on speaking fluently while being completely immersed in my native tongue, I could see the beauties of my heritage that I've only seen in pictures and heard about through memories from family members. I could stay with fam, have queso salvadoreno with casamiento every day and pupusas .... AH, PUPUSAS! I've heard stories about how much better they are over there .... if they live up to the hype, I think I'd find myself hard-pressed to make it back. I could visit the coastal beaches that line the Pacific, climb volcanos like Izalco, go zip-lining and hike through a real jungle ... the wanderlust in me bubbles at the thought.
It's funny to think that just two weeks ago I had a different mentality, a different mood, my outlook on my future was much bleaker. Through hard mental work, through the discipline of working out nearly every day and letting those endorphins lift my mood, through working through my bullshit, my procrastination, things are changing. They're coming together, they're making sense, I can see a light at the end of the subway tunnel. One of my favorite quotes, it's from Danny Inosanto, Bruce Lee's number two, is simply "Walk on". It's so simple and yet, it says a lot. To use a swimming analogy, it's not enough to tread water, you need to swim, how will you get to the destination you want if you let yourself get swept up in the current? Hmmm, maybe I should have named this post "Swim On".
