On my very first day of teaching, in New Hampshire in 2004, I was in the copy room before my first class started and I was apparently looking a little nervous. A veteran teacher, close to retirement, grey-haired and slightly hunch-backed, leaned over to me and said, "I still get nervous on the first day of school, too."  His words were calming. 

Tomorrow I begin my 10th year of teaching. I'm a lot less nervous, but the nerves haven't gone away entirely. I'm also so excited to welcome 18 kiddos into my government classroom! 

I feel incredibly lucky to have had some great teachers and mentors and coworkers and students along the way that have made this job into a career that I love. Hooray for 10 years!