Despondency

I recall having this conversation with a teacher one year ahead of me and then being on the receiving end of the question this year:
“Does it really get easier?” and the response was the same both times,
“It will never be as bad as the first!”
Indeed, as I started my second year, I had been at the school a good deal longer than a large chunk of the staff. I knew that the school was very territorial and whereas before I was very much coming into their “endz,” I could probably say that I was now “rep’ing the same endz” (sic). Further, two of the most important people to have on side in a school—the secretary and the caretaker—I knew fairly well. September was a dream, reinvigorated by the summer, I would be in school by 7am to return my year 11 work quickly and I would work on my form’s self-esteem blasting them with quote after quote from Mohammed Ali. In early October I was definitely thinking about staying on another year and trying to take on some extra responsibility.