It has been great being back at home. Living all my life minus the past half year in the Midwest, you really can notice a significant difference in lifestyle and culture. It’s so much more peaceful here, not to mention a nice break from work.

Looking back at what I’ve gone through, it has been a whirlwind. So much, if not too much, so fast. I can finally take a long, deep breath.

I thought I’d have a lot to say but really all that needs to be said is I feel blessed to be where I’m at. The kids are difficult but they will be manageable. It’s sad to see that it is the few troublesome students that ruin it for the other students. I sympathize with those students that want to learn but cannot when the teacher has to deal with other behavioral issues.

One or two students can change the dynamic of an entire classroom.  But, hearing from my mentor teacher, it is those students that help make you a better teacher. You make your lesson but then have to find ways to accommodate those students as well.  You try to make things more interactive, more hands on, more original so that repetition doesn’t bore the students to misbehavior.

To be honest with you, creativity was never a strong point of mine. But it’s stretching and pulling me in ways I never thought would happen.

And the staff. I could go on and on about how supportive they’ve been. How they constantly pour in advice and are willing to take on either individual students or entire classes when I can’t handle it.  How they constantly go above and beyond their normal work hours, creating innovative lessons or spending extra time with students, when behind the scenes you hear of how there aren’t nearly enough hours in a day to even get sleep. Or how administration constantly checks in to make sure I have everything I need and provides professional development to grow in areas I wouldn’t think of.

It has been hard. It has been difficult getting students to understand what a learning environment is. It has been difficult to get students to understand the value of education. It has been difficult coming up with innovative lessons (genetics, evolution, human physiology anyone?) to get students involved. But it has been more than fine as the school now feels more like family.

I got in a car accident over a month ago and all I could think about was trying to get to work on time to make sure my students don’t miss any work (my car got totaled yet I still made it on time!). And in spite of a recent traumatic experience at school, everyone has pulled together and showed how much each person cares for another.

It has been hard. But it has also been rewarding. The majority of the students want to learn and though there are outliers that have their own agenda, it has been a tremendous learning experience for me.

Andy Kwok is a biology teacher at EXCEL High School in West Oakland.