I sat down with Coach Powell today. Obviously I just wanted to see him, but he also happens to be one of the best people to get a sense of myself from. He’s a teacher and a coach, a good teacher and coach, so he helps people find themselves.
I didn’t get the job at American and it was greatly disappointing. Yes, I want to coach at a great University. Still, I can always look at other universities though. The bigger disappointment is that I was coming back to the US one month early without a job, and losing the $3000 bonus at the end of my contract. Honestly, the bonus wasn’t as big as the fact that I didn’t have a job while doing this. This’ll all be ok though. (On the other hand, I will be competing in the Sunkist and NYAC will cover my trip, so that’s a cost and a competition that I’m glad to compete in and prepare for that I otherwise couldn’t)
A small sidenote, since I seem to go on tangents all the time anyways, is that I didn’t hit 200 posts before I left Korea. I have 3 more to write. The reason is that I was incredibly busy the last three weeks. I wrote and prepared, with a lot of help, a speech in Korean about how to learn English, for my students. In it I included a lot of English, but also a lot of ideas about what it means to speak another language, what some barriers to crossing over into thinking in that language are, and some different ways to conceptualize it. I was there, in Korea, for slightly under a year – I can do more for these kids by leaving them with something for the next 10 years, then I could in that year. I only tried to keep these middle-schoolers disciplined and on task during class time. It was impossible to do it any other way. But I can give them actual knowledge when I go if I can earn their respect in one year as a teacher. I know some listened by the way they watched me as I spoke. I even had a few classes that were silent and attentive the whole time. And I know some didn’t hear a word I said by their total disinterest. I couldn’t expect anything more or less than what I got in that last week.
So, after that long sidenote, I believe I will be looking for something in the Illinois and perhaps Midwest area. At this time, I can’t imagine who will be in my corner besides coach Powell. Illinois is the premier wrestling state for high school and even colleges are seeing success now. If I have a solid financial plan I can make a life out of it. And if I do want to get a coaching job in the future, OPRF is the place to gain experience. I am going to set up my plan this week if I can to prepare for the trials and Olympics. I didn’t go to Korea because I was done. I went because I was getting ready to be ready. And I think I’m ready to be ready, so now I just need to get ready.
Tags: Korea, NYAC, OPRF, Sunkist tournament, Wrestling
