Uncomfortable on Purpose.

Starting a new job in a new district feels a lot like stepping into a story before you’ve read the first page. People always have something to say — the rumors, the controversy, the assumptions, the warnings whispered like secrets you’re supposed to accept as truth.

But here’s the thing about me: I am not an educator built on being comfortable. Comfort has never grown me, challenged me, or taught me what I needed to know. In fact, I *seek* discomfort. I run toward the spaces people tell me to stay away from, because that’s where the real work usually lives.

This year, I’ll be teaching 8th grade Reading and ELA in a minority space — a space people love to talk about but rarely take the time to truly understand. And that’s exactly why I’m here. I don’t want secondhand narratives. I don’t want anyone else’s watered-down version of the truth. I want to see it, feel it, and experience it for myself.

I want to know the truth about the students I will serve.

I want to understand their world, their challenges, their joys, their frustrations.

I want to walk into their classrooms and feel what they feel, so I can teach them with honesty, empathy, and intention.

There’s no way to serve students well from a distance.

There’s no way to love them, guide them, or advocate for them without being willing to stand in the same spaces they stand in — even when those spaces are messy, difficult, or misunderstood.

So yes, I’ve heard it all about this new district.

But I’m here anyway.

Not because I’m unafraid, but because I’m *unapologetically committed* to my purpose.

Let the controversy talk.

I’ll be over here doing the work — learning, listening, and showing up for kids who deserve the very best version of me.