April 15 - I'm a hoarder

I admit it: I am a hoarder. As a teacher I cringe at the idea of getting rid of something because I might possibly need it in a few years. Who knows the quantity of stuff I have amassed over the past 20 years!

When I was teaching in a K-5 self contained classroom the hoarding was out of control. Anytime a teacher would lay out something she was giving away for free, I snatched it right up because I might be able to use it someday. Since I taught different grades each year, that meant I needed stuff for every grade.

Once I moved into an itinerant position I had to purge. It was AWFUL!!! The teacher replacing me wanted to borrow some of my stuff which I was glad to do. The rest had to find its place in my home somewhere; I don't have a garage. That meant I had to sort through everything and determine what was the most valuable to me if I ever went back into the classroom and what was OK to part with because I could buy a new one. The PAIN!!!

This week I began to realize that my hoarding goes beyond teacher materials. I am updating my curriculum vita in preparation for applying for a new job. As I added in the various activities I have accomplished over the past year, I noticed that my CV was 8 PAGES LONG! You see, it contained every educational related job I have had over the past 20 years, every presentation I ever gave, every publication I've ever written...

I knew I needed to trim it down and hated seeing all my older accomplishments disappear from the pages. I turned to my dear colleagues asking their advice. In one way shape or form, they all encouraged me to cut some out (more than others). I kept asking different people hoping that one person would tell me it was OK to keep everything. NOPE!

So now I am painstakingly eliminating pieces of me from my CV. However, I know it is for the greater good. Who really wants or has time to read EIGHT pages of someone's life?

At the end of the day, I know that if given the opportunity, I will be able to share my pieces of my past with those on the interview committee. They are not gone, just diverted elsewhere.