Doppelgangers

As I start my second week at Riverside Poly this week (and a short week at that...thank you Labor Day!), it is beginning to hit me that I have the same students as I had last year.  I know what you are thinking, I live on the other side of the country, went from rural to outside L.A., it couldn't be any different.  And you are right, cultures are completely different.  However, as I've started to get to know some of my kids and see their personalities, they as individuals remind me so much of students that I've had in the past or even some of my friends.  Some of them being eerily similar. 

School is going well.  Still trying to adjust to the new school, learn the new rules, both formal and informal, and mainly trying to get use to this crazy schedule.  It still makes no sense to me why on earth they offer a class at 6:55 AM!  It is no wonder that I have a ton of tardies in that class.  I can't say that I blame them.  I really enjoy the AP classes, the kids are pretty cool.  Teenagers never cease to amaze me at how well they can adjust and adapt to a new situation. 

It will take some time, and I will always miss Chesnee.  Even though I was only there three years, it was the kind of school that I could have saw myself at 20 or 30 years down the road.  It was the kind of school where I could have grown and developed as the teacher and mentor to teenagers that I want to be.  Just like a kid that moves, now I need to back up, pause, and find my new niche here.  I hate not being involved in anything outside of school, but I have my plate full.  Plus, adding on a two hour commute round trip is going to make it even harder and more of a sacrifice to get involved, but, things will improve, and I am confident I will find some way to get involved.  That is just my nature.

Until then, I'll cling to the doppelgangers in my classes.  They remind me of a past world, one I still dearly miss.  And these doppelgangers will ease the transition.  Slowly, while I won't forget of the doubles on the East Coast, they won't be the first thing that comes to mind when I see my students, and I will think of their West Coast partners first.  Then, they will no longer be each other doppelgangers in my mind, but they will hold their own special place in my life.