I became a teacher because I wanted to save the world one kid at a time.
I know it sounds naive, but I believed it was possible because it happened to me.
“I grew up in a rough inner city neighborhood with parents who were barely around.”
It was my teacher, Mr. May's field, who listened when I needed to talk, helped me get a scholarship to college, and even intervened on my behalf when I got in trouble with the law. He had been there for me, and now I wanted to be there for someone else. As soon as I got my teaching degree, I applied for a program that matched educators with schools in need. During the tense month I spent waiting for a placement.
I imagined that I would be working in a school like the one I had graduated from. I figured my students would be like me, city kids with city problems, and a lifestyle that I was familiar with. When my letter finally arrived, I discovered I had been assigned to a tiny apple latch in town called Dear Chase. Its population was less than 300, and according to the organization,
most of my students would be bused in from nearby regions that were even more remote.
I had never lived anywhere without public transportation, without 24-hour shops,
without background noise and light pollution. I had received a letter along with my posting, one in which my future principal explained just how isolated Dear Chase really was.
“It was an hour to the nearest gas station,”
and even further to the nearest grocery store. In winter, snow piled up on the narrow roads, making them impossible for weeks at a time. The creeks usually flooded in spring, and if I went into the woods during summer, I would need to be on the lookout for sinkholes and rattlesnakes. The only piece of good news was that the school had a house for visiting teachers,
so at least I would be living rent free. The more I read about Dear Chase, the less I liked it, but I had made a commitment. I wasn't going to back out because the location wasn't to my liking. Besides, I needed to work badly, and I'd heard rumors that the organization blacklisted any teacher
who turned down a posting. As I'd packed for the 14 hour drive to Dear Chase, I told myself to look on the bright side. Maybe this was my chance for one last big adventure after college.
“For all I knew, I might be about to discover that I loved life in the country.”
My second hand hatchback had over 250,000 miles on it,
and I was more than a little worried that it wasn't going to survive the journey. In order to give my car a break, I decided to spend the night at a rest area halfway to my destination. I couldn't get over how exposed the place was. Those glaring overhead lights, the nearly empty parking lot, the rumbling trucks and shadowy figures going to and from the bathrooms.
At one point, I thought for sure I heard something scraping against the door lock. But by the time I woke up and looked around, the source of the sound was gone. Had someone been trying to get inside my car, I gave up on sleep and began the second half of my journey while in the dark. Dawn was breaking by the time I took the highway exit toward deer chase.
Not that the town appeared on any signs. I was grateful that I had written the directions down. My GPS service was spotty on the mountain roads. And after a while, all of those gloomy forest-covered hills started to look the same. Maybe it was just the lack of sleep, but eventually I did end up getting a little lost.
I pulled into a gas station, the kind that also sold fishing bait and groceries. Where I hoped I could get a little help. A dusty bell jingled above the door as I walked inside. The three old men at the counter might have been customers, employees, or lifelong friends. It was impossible to say which.
They stopped talking and observed me carefully. I cleared my throat and asked if any of them knew the way to blink hollow road. The three men exchanged a glance.
Finally, one scratched his stubbly white beard inside.
You missed it a couple miles back. That road goes right down into the valley. The signs overgrown, and the turn really sneaks up on you. You headed down there for the fishing? The large bald man and overalls beside him wanted to know.
I shook my head. I had been about to tell the trio exactly who I was and what I was doing there. But the way they were questioning me had put me on guard. The less these three knew I figured the better. I had just thanked them and turned to go when the third man shouted something after me.
Well, just don't stay down there too long. You don't want to come back with the new chase to hear. He chuckled. It was apparently a joke, but the other two weren't laughing. The large bald man leaned in close and whispered something.
It seemed like he was telling him off. You take care of him. He warned me.
Make sure to be out of there and prove it to me.
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