(no subject)
Emailed the AFS chapter president this morning to tell him that I can't keep acting as Support Coordinator- Between class (much more intense this year than last), work (two jobs in two different parts of the city which I rush between all day, and I'm working twice as many hours per week as I was last year), I've got a lot going on at the moment. AFS tends to fill in the gaps when I'm not doing any of those things.
I'm going to see the three students who arrived last year through to the end of their stay; they're all extremely well-adjusted and low-maintenence and won't be much work. Since they've been here so much longer than the new group, I've bonded with them and don't want to stick them with a Support Coordinator they don't know three months before the end of their exchange, but guiding another group through the adjustment process is more than I can handle right now. I'm feeling a bit regretful, but most of all, relieved- Without AFS, when I'm not at work or in class, I'll be able to study, or have a life- Without worrying that I'm slacking off on emailing potential host families, or arranging community service projects for my kids, or feeling like I should have scheduled that meeting with that liaison by now, or chasing down the treasurer to get him to write school transportation cheques, or chasing down students to give them their transportation cheques, or organising social activities for my students, or having to explain the rules about travel waivers for the fourth or fifth time, or consoling someone who's homesick or hating their school or uncomfortable with their living situation, or advising a host parent about what to do with a student who's unresponsive or argumentative or disrespectful. I've also resigned from the committee- No more meetings!
I'll probably end up crying at least once before everything's sorted out for someone else to take over, but I know it's the best thing both for my sanity, and for the students; they deserve a Support Coordinator who has more time and energy to devote to them than I do right now.
It's the end of an era, SSar said. She's right. I'm not really sure how to feel about it.
I'm going to see the three students who arrived last year through to the end of their stay; they're all extremely well-adjusted and low-maintenence and won't be much work. Since they've been here so much longer than the new group, I've bonded with them and don't want to stick them with a Support Coordinator they don't know three months before the end of their exchange, but guiding another group through the adjustment process is more than I can handle right now. I'm feeling a bit regretful, but most of all, relieved- Without AFS, when I'm not at work or in class, I'll be able to study, or have a life- Without worrying that I'm slacking off on emailing potential host families, or arranging community service projects for my kids, or feeling like I should have scheduled that meeting with that liaison by now, or chasing down the treasurer to get him to write school transportation cheques, or chasing down students to give them their transportation cheques, or organising social activities for my students, or having to explain the rules about travel waivers for the fourth or fifth time, or consoling someone who's homesick or hating their school or uncomfortable with their living situation, or advising a host parent about what to do with a student who's unresponsive or argumentative or disrespectful. I've also resigned from the committee- No more meetings!
I'll probably end up crying at least once before everything's sorted out for someone else to take over, but I know it's the best thing both for my sanity, and for the students; they deserve a Support Coordinator who has more time and energy to devote to them than I do right now.
It's the end of an era, SSar said. She's right. I'm not really sure how to feel about it.