The Swinging Bridge: Part 2

 

    Wow. Going back to read The Swinging Bridge after 7 years is like a glimpse into the past. (If you haven't read the first part, go do it!) So many things in my life have changed, yet in some ways, I still feel like that 22-year-old girl just trying to get her life started. If you were wondering what happens next in the story, you're about to find out!

    After the decline from Columbus Junction, I was pretty disappointed. I had my hopes up, and I was excited to start this new part of my life. But like they say, the best things in life happen unexpectedly. They are so right. My next journey was starting without me even knowing. 

    Not even two days after the phone conversation that crushed my hopes, I received a call to set up an interview with WACO Community Schools in Crawfordsville, Iowa. A small, rural school district about 20 minutes from Columbus Junction. My swinging bridge was sure swinging me in the right direction!

    I will spare you the details of the interview. I was nervous just like going into any interview, but this time was different. The interview committee was so nice and down to earth. They didn't make me feel like an interviewee, but more like an actual staff member. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much because I didn't want them crushed again. It turns out that outside forces were working in my favor. I got the job!

    My first teaching job. My first classroom. My first group of students that will call me Ms. Pasch. I was so excited. Looking back now, I can still remember the nervousness of the first day of school. I can remember the excitement of all of my hard work and goals finally being achieved. I felt like I had reached the other end of that swinging bridge. I had a job. I had my own apartment. I was starting the next journey of my life in Southeast Iowa. 

    I would spend the next 7 years at WACO. I would switch grade levels. I would try my hand at coaching high school cheerleading. I would make mistakes, and I would learn from them. Looking back now, I'm so thankful that WACO gave this shy, small-town girl a chance. It shaped me into who I am today and taught me so much. 

    At the time, I thought I was on the other side of the swinging bridge. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe I never was. Maybe life is like that. It is full of ups and downs. You have moments when you feel like this is exactly what you were destined to do. Then you have moments when you think to yourself, "Is this really what I was meant to do for the rest of my life?" Right now, I feel like I'm back in the middle again. The bridge is still swinging, but I'm holding on tight and ready to see where the ride takes me.