The balancing juggler
One of the challenges as a single mum whilst studying to be a primary teacher is juggling all the responsibilities. As a mature student you will quite often have existing responsibilities before going to university. And although the term work-life balance is already well and truly coined, I would propose it goes much further than that.
My life consists of responsibilities to:
...my children
...my ageing mother
...my studies
...my placements
...my community
...my church
...myself
And make note of that last one - I very rarely do, and I am not alone.
But how long before you are stretched too far?
My first year at university is coming to a close. I am now at the pressure point and consequently the first things that go are the activities that come under the 'for me' category. Unfortunately, that is also how I maintain balance so that I can continue to juggle all the balls of responsibility.
With all the discussion that I hear and media stories I read on work-life balance for teachers, workload crises etc. one of the life skills I am very aware I need to master over the next two years is juggling all that life throws at me, whilst maintaining the balance to ensure my well being. This is not easy! I know that I will have wobbles, and I am not so naive to think that this point will be the one and only - or that the jelly moments will stop when I am a qualified teacher. The important thing for me now is to learn how to be that so coined term - resilient!
So far, my methods have included:
building a strong professional support network - some of whom have become close personal friends.
learning to say no... okay, so I'm working on that one but I'm getting better - honestly!
prioritising - workload, family, church: they all have points when they have to come first on the list
finding time for me - again, this is a work in progress but I am getting better...
I have two more years until real (working) life comes back to bite - and in those two years I intend to develop coping strategies and support networks to keep me going through those challenging first few years. Which very conveniently *ahem* will coincide will my children going through adolescence...