"And so, like, well, I left civil engineering for ministry. If you don't know what civil engineering is, don't worry about it. It's boring. So yeah, like, um, I like wanted to get into ministry, full time ministry."

After an already painful display of public speaking (in)ability, our chapel speaker uttered these words, or something very similar, perhaps with more utterances of the word "like." Graciousness in these situations is not my forte, but I was really trying not to nitpick every word or theological difference we had. I couldn't let this go though.

This happened on the same day I first saw that my school was accepting resumes for my job. I had and still have been thinking a lot in the past few weeks about why it feels almost shameful to admit that I'm quitting teaching.

Somehow, teaching seems to give you sort of a badge of character. To say you're a teacher, and to be viewed as one by other people, seems to comment on your moral fiber, for better or worse. And quitting teaching...well, then, you must be backsliding or losing your faith or your nurturing qualities or something.

And now this guy in chapel, this guy who couldn't speak in complete sentences or utter a phrase without repeating like after every word, was telling all of our children that civil engineering should be poo-pooed for "ministry," whatever that means. It pissed me off, for myself and the kids. As I thought about what to do after teaching, I certainly didn't need someone else telling me that I could never do something as important as molding lives, and our kids certainly didn't need anyone telling them the math, English, and science they were studying should be abandoned for ministry.

I just needed to get that ranting off my chest. And in case people are wondering, I have absolutely no idea what I'll do after teaching. Probably rob a bank.