I Teach 8th Grade.

Tonight I went into DC to go to the first Truman mentor and mentee meeting. I'm a mentor, believe it or not. My little mentee is here for a year for the Truman fellows program, working for the DC public schools in early childhood elementary education and darling. I am not much older, but I feel qualified to be a mentee. I've started my graduate studies, I am living in the DC area for the second time, and I am tall.

Not to mention that I wore cowboy boots today. That gives me extra prowess as a mentor.

You don't mess with someone wearing cowboy boots.

So we had to introduce ourselves twice tonight. The first time it was with just the other mentors as we got "trained" to be mentors. We went around the large board room table and said our Truman year, home state, and current position. Most went like this:

Harry Jones, California, 2001, Lawyer for the House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Something Else Fancy.

Susan Potter, Georgia, 1998, Special Assistant to the Secretary Assigned to Stop the Global Spread of AIDS and Vampires.

Sam David, Iowa, 2003, Trial Attorney for the Justice Department in the Finance Sector Focusing on Fighting Turnstile Jumpers.

Basically, the more titles after your name the better. And I mean this in the nicest way because all these people were in public service, and they deserve jazzy titles. That's so stinkin' cool that on top of their day jobs they want to work with young, dewy eyed public servants.

Then they got to me.

Victoria Luhrs, Kansas 2005. I teach 8th grade.

This is far more succinct than the longer, more drawn out description I could have given that includes referee, motivator, counselor, coach, clown, instructor, sympathizer, reality checker, fact checker, case manager, and certainly advocate.

Basically, I teach 8th grade. And I am darn proud of it.

I also make gluten free brownies when the occasion calls for it. Just in case you forget, I HEART the color green in my kitchen.


They taste just fine. Except they are currently stuck in the silicone pan I used. Too tired to fight that stupid mini brownie pan tonight.