the life of a teacher is marked by transition. the same is true for students, but the experience, in my experience, is overall different. as a student, you are striving to make plans and reach goals. each transit moves you on to new challenges and phases of life. as a teacher, you watch all of that. watch anxieties mount in a class of grade 12s preoccupied with college applications and exam dates. watch the timid non-reader finally stare down a tough piece of literature and win. watch baby steps of academic progress, but at each transit, watch departures and remain behind. each transit brings the next roomful of faces, and eventually you come to know you're but a rest stop on their road. each transit leads you back to the same point you started from. it is not a path but a cycle. after this week, i'll simply be turning 'round again.