Day 1 after being sent back to the classroom after 23 years as a full-time or part-time guidance counsellor.

I do not enjoy standing in front of groups of students for extended periods of time so the idea of doing it as a regular teacher has filled me with horror for the entire summer.  And so, I sought refuge in the philosophical mantra.  First, it was “Zen.”  By that, I mean I try to stay as calm as possible and focus on the moment.  Of course, that only works for the five or ten seconds that I’m thinking about it.  Then there’s “just have fun.”  Now, the advantages of this is that it provides an active reason to focus on the moment.  It works great when you've got the adrenalin running high and aren't sure where to put it.  A problem with this mantra is that it requires a lot of energy and it's just too much energy to maintain.  It works great if you're about to go on stage to do a stand up routine or act a part in the play but not so good in the day to day grind of the classroom.  So, there's always just being yourself.