Page 57 of An Irish Hope

“I’m so nervous I could pee my pants,” Maisie murmured.

“Hey, we’ll be fine.”

“Why are you so calm?”

“I’m not that calm,” she assured. “But I’m sure that our supervising teachers will want to help us. They won’t be throwing us at the kids like lambs to the wolves.”

Maisie shivered. “I hope you’re right.”

“It’s not in their best interest to have us fail, is it?”

“You’re so positive and sensible about this.”

Hmm. She’d heard herself described as positive all her life, but sensible was a new one. It felt nice. Confidence-building. Maybe it was some of this maturity thing that people were starting to see. Which was probably about time. “Well, I am trying to trust God with it. So close your eyes, take a deep breath in and slowly release and commit it to God.”

Aisling prayed aloud, which maybe Maisie rolled her eyes at, but Aisling had her own eyes closed, so she couldn’t see. And who cared if Maisie thought she was weird? This was part of Aisling being real.

She opened her eyes. “Ready to go in now?”

Maisie nodded. “Thanks. That helped.”

“You’re not doing this alone. There’s a team of people ready to support us, remember?” And God was an ever-present help in times of trouble. “Ready?”

They exited the car then made their way into the administrative office, and were encouraged to wait on the faux leather chairs with Miles. He nodded, and for once looked a little pale.

Patrick Monaghan, the school’s supervisor teacher they’d met at College, finally appeared and shook their hands. “It’s great to meet you all.” He turned to Miles. “Now I’m afraid we’ve hit a little snag with the man who was going to be supervising you. Bryan has come down with chickenpox, and will be out for the next few weeks so we have a replacement teacher who will help you get started. I’ll take you to see Mr. Scott soon.”

Patrick explained some more of the processes and procedures, then said they’d be introduced properly next week at a before-school all staff meeting. “But for today I’m going to take you to meet your mentors, okay?”

“Sure.” Aisling gave Maisie an encouraging smile, Miles a slightly less exuberant one.

She was glad when they finally were walking the corridors. Eek! She was a teacher! Well, almost one. In a couple of years, but still. Excitement simmered within, drawing her to smile at some passing students, several of whom raised their eyebrows like this was strange.

Oh. It probably was. And probably marked her as a new teacher. Better refrain from exhibiting too much excitement, then. For the rest of their walk down the corridor she settled for a nod and a slightly less-toothy grin.

“Okay, first stop is PE, seeing that’s on this floor,” Patrick said. “Then we’ll have maths, then it’s upstairs for you, Aisling.”

They followed, waiting in the hallway as Patrick introduced Miles to his supervising teacher and the other PE staff, then led them on to the Maths staffroom. “You’ve got this,” Aisling murmured to Maisie, who nodded, even though she looked a little green.

Then it was her turn. Up the stairs to the Humanities department, which housed History, Irish, and Politics and Society. “Your supervisor is Moira Greene. She’s had a number of students in the past, so you'll find that fairly straightforward.”

He knocked on the door, then gestured her inside a room that housed a variety of desks and a central table with chairs. “Everyone, this is Aisling Fairall, one of the UCC students who will be here over the next year helping Moira with Irish and politics and history.”

There were various nods, smiles, and “Welcomes” and an older lady came forward. Held out a hand. “I’m Moira. Welcome aboard.”

“Thanks.”

“I wasn’t going to have a student this year, but when the call came I put up my hand once again.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Now there’s no need to be scared, the students are often more bark than bite.” She winked. “But not always.”

She laughed, but really hoped that Moira had meant that as a joke.

She pushed her shoulders back. Okay, teaching world, here she came.

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