Waiting for some Calm

As many of you already know, these past 6 months in my new job have been rather difficult. The job in and of itself is not bad at all, it's everything that came along with it. Imagine starting a new job and thinking, "Mmm, what are the worst things that could happen?" Well, everything imaginable has happened. Just when I think I can't get any worse...it does.

First, I begin my job at the most stressful time of the year, our fall classes campaign. During this time of year we are trying to "recruit" new students and it's extremely stressful and time consuming. Then all of a sudden two of my teacher's were taken right from under my nose by collegues in another town to teach in their center, and I was left with having to find new ones just three days before classes started. Right when the campaign is finally over and I think I can begin to relax, my right hand man (woman), Antia, has severe back pain and goes on sick leave for 2 1/2 months. Here in Santiago, it's just me, Antia, and the technician, Diego. The big chiefs are in La Coruña, and hour from Santiago. This means I had to do double the hours and double the work (mine and Antia's). But remember, I'm still new at all this. During this time, my dearest friend Jules comes to visit and I can't spend much quality time her. Towards the last week of her leave my boss finally decides to hire someone else to cover the administration at the front desk. The next week, Antia returns. A small breath of fresh air. But no, my boss wants to cut costs. Meaning, we have to reduce the technician's hours. He opposes to this decision and decides to leave the company. Now I'm left with no technician in an Information Technology Center where computer maintenance is a must. I keep saying, things have to start getting better, they can't get any worse. Yes, they can...

On Monday, February 5th, I come to work as usual, and I notice that one of my teachers is late... as usual. I don't think anything of it, except that I'm going to have to reprimand him again. All of a sudden, two people walk through the front door. One of them seems out of breath, but Antia and I realize he's actually trying not to cry. They proceed to tell us that Felipe, my late as usual teacher, was in a car accident the day before and he died instantly. Felipe, so full of life, so young, so full of hope for the future, had a head on collision and wasn't wearing his seatbelt. The whole academy was in shock and denial. I decided to close up for the day and we all piled into cars and drove 2 1/2 hours away to his funeral. 2 1/2 hours of silence.

Monday was the shock of it, but Tuesday the reality of it all set it.

What could be worse than the loss of a life. I think I can honestly say now that things can't get any worse. It's time for some calm.

If my first six months were like this, then the next six should be a breeze.