Who was it said there is a time and place for everything? I am now not a young man, nor old, I would hope, but somewhere in the middle. I have led a life fully and done a lot of great things, and some not so great, of course. But out of all that living I have come to a point where I am ready to give something back.
Isis Photography, which is where we made our living for the last seven years was great but running your own business is a bit of a selfish affair. It’s about making as much money as possible, which in our case turned out to never be quite enough for anything but the basic necessities. I should point out that was still pretty impressive and while that was fine for my wife and I – we loved being photographers, it isn’t so fine for a little guy who wants swimming lessons, gymnastics and activities beyond TV.
I also want to be able to spend time with him and doing that as a family wouldn’t be possible as photographers. A wedding and portrait business keeps you busy at weekends and the during the summer. My father missed me growing up. He was in the military and away for a large part of my early childhood. I was then away for the rest of it growing up at boarding school. I don’t want to miss my little guy growing up.
Of course I wouldn’t be entirely truthful after several years of not knowing where the next pay check was coming from if the idea of a regular wage didn’t appeal. It does, a lot.
I’m also looking forward to being part of a community again. There’s something about a school and the ebb and flow of a school year, like that of the passing of the seasons, it feels right.
Lastly but by no means least there’s the challenge of teaching. I’m going to write more on this soon. But suffice it to say here it’s a unique challenge. Managing and directing the learning of a classroom of children is as exciting as it is daunting. Not for the faint of heart and not for the uninitiated. (Though that, the uninitiated bit, seems to be a little old fashioned in some circles these days, especially in the UK and their Free schools – but I digress.) Which is one of the reasons I don’t mind in the least that there will be a teaching practice in my near (hopefully) future.