It's after 3 a.m. here and I can't fall asleep. I know this is directly related to the terrible day I have just been through. I've talked to lots of people about it already, but I can't seem to get it out of my head, so I thought writing about it might help. [Warning...this email is a downer.]

First of all, a review of several random and annoying things that happened throughout the day:

• the power (electricity, phone, internet) went out this afternoon in my residence hall for 5 hours because of a power line being severed during construction down the street
• the fire alarm sounded at 11 pm for no reason and lasted for 5 minutes (just long enough for everyone to get angry (suspecting it was yet another false alarm), put on their coats, and start heading downstairs)
• being shocked IN THE EAR by my telephone as I was talking to my friend. The phone then died. And there is still no dial tone now. (The shock really hurt! But no hearing loss, thank goodness.)
• I put a load of laundry in the washer (at midnight...), went back up to my room for the duration of the 38 minute cycle (as I usually do), then returned to the washer to find there was still 37 minutes left--the machine malfunctioned.
  

I may have been able to handle those minor problems better on a different day. Maybe I would have even laughed about them. But they were all made unbearable because of an upsetting email I received today from my principal back at SCCS.

The 3-sentence email basically stated that I will not be teaching mathematics next year. (Instead, I've been assigned other subjects.)

Just to remind you, I am studying for my Master's degree in mathematics education!

The principal's decision to change my teaching assignment just makes no sense to me on so many levels. Isn't higher education supposed to be a boost for one's career? Now it feels like I am going through all this for nothing. I've devoted one year to developing myself as a teacher--learning to become a better math teacher--to no end, it seems. Not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars I am now in debt because I believed it would be a worthwhile investment into my future as a teacher. Guess I was wrong about that.

I do plan on calling my principal tomorrow (or, today, it is now) and talking to her about it. But that just makes falling asleep tonight even harder because I can't stop thinking about what I'm going to say to her.

Also, I did no academic work today because I just couldn't focus, so now I feel guilty about THAT too!

Sorry that this post is so depressing, but I had to get this off my chest once more. And, bonus for me... this is the first time explaining the story that I didn't cry about it.