It's Been A Week

So this past Sunday I went home to visit my family once more this semester. I hadn't been able to see my family much last semester because of student teaching, and my holiday was cut short when I went to visit my girlfriend Sharon and see her off to her internship in Tennessee. They enjoy me being home, and it's certainly better to spend time with family than cooping myself up in my room in Canyon cut off from society. So, as I said, I went home to visit my parents Sunday with the intention of staying until this morning.

Yet this morning, I find myself here in Canyon, completely lacking that thing called sleep.

Unfortunately, I received a call early Monday that Steve Baird, one of the assistants at Canyon High School, directly over the Intermediate School Band (beginners) passed away that morning from a heart attack.

It was upsetting to say the least. I spent all of last semester student teaching with the Canyon High School Band, and Steve was someone that I came to know as a friend. While he was older, past middle aged, he was by no means old. And while he had a family history of heart problems that I knew about, he wasn't having any specific health issues last fall. He was always a source of humor among the staff, lightening the mood whenever things were tough. He was a source of insight for me personally, because of his many years of experience. He came to be someone I admired and honestly considered a friend, even though I only knew him a short while. He will be sorely missed.

That same afternoon, I received a call from Mike, the head director, asking if I was interested in applying to fill his position short term, with the possibility of it becoming a long term position. Long conversation short, I said absolutely. I'm not the only candidate applying, but it's a short list that is, so my odds are pretty good, I think. Hope. Pray.

So I've spent the last few days running my butt around Canyon trying to prepare myself, get my application in, get my resume and transcript in, and, this morning, go to an interview.

My first interview.

I don't remember the last time I was this stressed and wound up about something. May have been the worst I've worried yet in my life. Needless to say, I slept all of two hours last night, and still managed to wake up before my alarms went off today. The seven alarms I set. Yeah, really, seven. I was that worried about oversleeping. Silly me.

The interview, I think, went well. All of the interview studying I did last night was kind of for naught, however. Because I have such close ties to the program, the questions asked me were pretty specific to me, on the whole, and mostly unlike every bit of interview preparation I've received this past fall. (And I received a lot!) But, I think I handled myself well, and I'm hoping for the best.

The worst part is over. The interview had me unbelievably stressed. I'm still on edge, and will be for the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours when I receive a call back telling me whether or not I have the position. But it's nothing compared to last night. It was the longest night of my life.

Anyway, this week has not gone how I expected. Instead of a leisurely visit to my family, I lost a friend, and now find myself stressing over my application to fill his position.

For better or worse, I can't wait for the call. I feel like my heart might be the next to go after this week.