Well, I'll take next months topic since I'm late already

What should I know before arriving in June?

Consider the following questions:
What, in your life, makes you smile?
What do you need to be happy?
How assertive are you?

I'm still figuring these out. That is, the first two speak to how this experience can be very consuming in both positive and negative ways.

If you know what you enjoy and how you can use that to take a step back and breath, things might be a little smoother. I found, particularly last semester, but it remains true, that if I am not reading a book, I am less happy. Just setting aside an hour or 30 mins a night to read made life appreciably better.

What you need, however, is a different question. Do you need people around you? Stores? Supportive co-workers? Comfort food? family? close friends? animals? I have always had problems with this question, often wishing I needed less to be happy. But, the more you can think about this question and try to answer it, the better off you might be. That said, I think this experience can have the effect of helping you answer this question as you go. I wouldn't have thought I would answer it like I have been a year ago.

I am not assertive. This is often a problem. I have had to work hard at learning how to assert my authority in the classroom in ways that I am, at least, somewhat comfortable with. School is full of confrontations, tests, and limit-pushing. I was told that, but the violence, severity, frequency and scale of these happenings is still somewhat mind-boggling. If you are someone who has an attitude, can command respect in confrontation, has a big sense of self-esteem, I think you might be much better off than some others of us, particularly in the more rural schools. I know this is vague but the experience is almost indescribable. It's always a mix of large and small, always unbelievable behavior, which I need to confront. Assertiveness, I think, is a helpful skill.

You will meet lots of amazing people, lots of amazing students. You will see things you could probably never see anywhere else in the US.

In retrospect, I think there is probably very little I could have done to prepare myself. I have tried and still try to keep an open mind and take advantage of new life experiences as they arrive. So, perhaps it will be a comforting thought to say, don't worry about it. Just come on down, pack your bag and hold on tight. You'll go places and directions you didn't expect, in fact, that expectation probably couldn't even imagine.

See you in June?