Academic anxieties and little lifeboats

Like other teachers, Hollowell shared he’s encountered moments of uncertainty. As an AP teacher, a vast majority of his job revolves around being able to engage in discourse and visually see both the effectiveness of his teaching, as well as the progress made by his students–both of which have been difficult to observe in the wake of this school year. 

“It takes a tremendous amount of effort to stay motivated when you don’t see the effects, the fruits of your labor, the results of your teaching,” Hollowell said. “When that’s less apparent, it takes more work to get the data that proves you’ve been an effective teacher. In the absence of doing that work, you’re kind of flying blind.” 

For others, like English 1 and 2 teacher Tricia Jennings, the year hasn’t been composed of digital struggles. Though still lacking in traditional classroom normalcy, Jennings admitted despite experiencing what she described as “a bitter couple weeks,” she’s found success this year as a result of her all-in-person class schedule. 

Though her year has still consisted of excessive tasks and jam-packed school days unlike ever before, she demonstrated confidence in her coping methods to “preempt that feeling” of worry. 

“I have to go to my people,” Jennings said. “I have to be able to spend time with people and not have to talk about school, to just sit back and relax and enjoy and soak up the moment. Once I’m able to do that, then I will be loose-tongued and be able to confess how I’m feeling. Because to share how I’m feeling, it really is a confession.”

Similarly, Champion clung to his own life philosophy of self care– what he terms “tasks and procedures.” Admitting the abnormalities of the academic school year, he explained the routine is the normalcy–his singular glimpse of authority amid life’s uncertainties. 

“Life’s crazy, everything’s hard, but I know I’m going to have coffee today,” Champion said. “How I make the coffee, that’s a procedure. Those procedures become little, tiny lifeboats and I just step on one to the other to get through the day. I don’t focus on that feeling of dread or insecurity or anxiety, I focus on the procedure and the task. I do the task and I make the task complete, and when that one’s done, I do the next one. This sounds really weird, but that’s the only thing I can control.”