Coming Full Circle

I can hardly believe it, but I am a candidate for National Board Certification in Teaching. If you had told me 20 years ago that I'd be standing here, I would not have believed you. At that point of my teaching journey, I was losing my struggle with depression. It was consuming my life and I didn't realize it at the time, but depression was a huge part of the reason that I found teaching so difficult and unappealing. Fast forward to today, and my old self would never have believed I'd still be in the classroom teaching. I've come thousands of miles to get here. I no longer cry in hallways and in bathrooms at various points in the school day. And I've learned to make peace with depression and I know now how to keep it from gobbling up my life. You can't tell simply by looking at someone, how far they've come or what dragons they've had to slay along the way, so be kind always. <3