First week at new job & no ranting! Yay!

Well, what problems there have been this week were mainly a result of my own making or ignorance. Thus... I can say today that my co-workers are a joy. Perhaps this feeling will persist, we shall see.

My first day started off 5 min late, a bit embaressing but not utterly catastrophic. Turned out that my immediate supervisor didn't even know that I was going to be there. Thus, it proved a non-issue entirely. I shant argue with good fortune. The day went well and I met the child that I will be working with. He is a spooky little thing, the exact temperment and personality of my youngest brother at 5th grade. Down right creepy, he even has some of the same physical mannerisims. If his hair was brown, his eyes brown, and his skin coloring a shade darker, I'd be inclined to say the boy could pass for my brother's son. Down right spooky, no?

My second day went much like the first. Except for I was 15 min late. Quite embaressing, but my supervisor just laughed it off. A plesant surprise and one for which I was quite thankful. Perhaps my embaressment helped in that perspective. I'm not entirely sure. That was a very busy day, for we had a field trip. Off to the Challenger learning center! To put it simply, I thought it was just wonderful.

The mock up of Mission Control was plesantly done. As was the mock up of the work space of a space shuttle. The entire experience, while it was plesant, did make me feel old. Was it really that long ago that the Challenger tragedy happened? It occurs to me, as I type this, that these children have their own version of Challenger that they witnessed. The loss of Columbia. Perhaps this entire experience will help them understand what happened with Columbia and why it is important that we don't give up. I present my thoughts on that entire topic later.

[... pause for a moment of silence in memory of the astronauts who died in mission accidents ...]

Ok, let's get back to happier topics. I have to say, however, it is hard to do so. It's a more then sobering thought. What struck me in all of this, however, was how many of these kids were moved to compassion for the families of the astronauts from Challenger. Several of them wanted to know if their families were all right even though the astronauts were gone. Hence, the lesson focus on the background and purpose of the Challenger learning center. It makes me feel a bit of hope for these kids, perhaps we're not as screwed as it seems some times. Maeby the vast majority of the kids that are rushing towards adulthood have a hope of understanding that we are each valueable people.

... ok, I'm going to stop that morose rant before it even starts. Please forgive me, but I'm feeling a tad depressed. The Challenger incident impacted my life rather deeply. I'm not related in any way shape or form to the fallen astronauts, save by being of the same species and in a few cases gender. At the time of Challenger's demise, however, I was deeply in love with the space program. I planned on growing up to be Christa McAuliffe, except I'd have a writing career too. Then, as I was walking down the hallway, the shuttle launch was announced over the school's p.a. system. Televisions were in various hallways and just about every class room so the whole school could watch it.

I stood and watched as one of the people who had become a hero of mine died. Of the other kids around me, I was one of the few that knew the moment of the explosion that the shuttle was lost. It was a hammer of clarity that struck me, even now, as a thought that was beyond my years. I was also the only one to have voiced it in that stunned silence. Other kids and a few teachers were saying in rebuttal "Well, perhaps it was just the tank. If the smoke clears, then we'll see it, I'm sure."

That moment has haunted me for years, it is also the primary reason why I abandoned my dream of becoming an astronaut. Years later, it became apparent to me that I wouldn't have had a chance anyways due to health conciderations but... [insert tired sigh and long pause as author runs to fetch a cup of tea] I hope that bit of depressing reverie doesn't diminish your day as well. But... now you know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

... You know, this isn't working too well to snap me out of this funk, let's try this again. (see next post!)