Walking Toward Independence

22+ years ago, our son was born in Maryland. He has since graduated from university and is looking for his first full-time job in his chosen profession of teaching.

He composed his resume, received letters of recommendation, copied his transcript and Praxis scores, and filled out online applications. He received a by-invitation-only request to interview at a job fair for Fairfax County (Virginia) School District.

Since it was on a Saturday we decided to make it a road trip for our son's "parental units" too. So all plans were set.

As I saw his stress level increase in the week leading up to the interview, I told him that this was a win/win situation for him. It was his first interview for a teaching position and if he didn't get the job, he could chalk it up to a valuable learning experience (win).....if he did get a job offer (in the future) with the school district (win).

We left home at 6:00 a.m., saw very little traffic and headed south to Virginia. The trip took 3.5 hours and we arrived well before his check-in time of 10:30 for his 11-11:30 interview. We dropped him off at 10:30 and watched him walk away in his suit and tie with his portfolio under his arm.

My husband and I marveled at another amazing moment in parenthood. Our son was making another step toward independence. Walking away from us and toward his future. Wow.

Around noon he called us to pick him up and when we pulled up, he looked at us and smiled. The interview went well. Different than he had expected, yet he was happy with himself. The recruiter said that he might receive a call in June when they have a list of secondary ed. math openings.

In the meantime, he'll be looking for teaching opportunities closer to our home and in the end, he agreed that the first interview was a win/win.