A year of putting it all together

I joined the great unwashed in August of 2007. For the first time in my life, I no longer had a job. It took two weeks for it to sink in. I mean, I've never been someone who didn't have a job. I had my first non-baby sitting job as soon as the law allowed and I've spent much of my life working for several employers at one time.

Now here's where the hard part came in. I've always been a top-of-the-heap kind of employee. If you wanted it done, done right and done on time, take it to Judy. I had innumerable talents — I could write, design, photograph, teach leadership and motivation. People are drawn to me and I'm a great leader. What's there not to love?

I admit it now. I defined myself by what I did. And I assumed that others would be intrigued by my resume that showed so many successes at a number of different schools and by my well-written cover letter. What I discovered is the corporate world, for the most part, didn't consider teaching a real job. And getting RIFed in August is totally awful timing for a teacher. All jobs were filled even if they didn't particularly like the candidate.

Tomorrow: Pulling it all together