I am woman, hear me roar!

I love these cool, crisp fall days. I love that it is sunny and beautiful without a cloud in the sky and yet you still need some kind of jacket to keep warm. This is my kind of weather.

I thought that when I logged on here and started typing that I would figure out what to write about. I was trying to avoid writing about work but it is the main thing that is on my mind right now. Since I am interpreting within a program, I spend a lot of my time here.

I can't really give you too much information of course, since I've got that whole confidentiality thing going on in my code of ethics. I can say that I had a meeting yesterday to discuss the challenges that I have been facing in the classroom and that since my meeting, I am feeling much better.

One of the main problems that I have been having is that I am constantly needing to set boundaries and am finding myself exhausted and drained at the end of the day. I am feeling a little like I am having the life and energy sucked out of me during the course of the day. Being the typical Canadian female, I of course think that this is my fault/responsibility/problem/issue (pick a word, any word - they all fit). I think that I need to be more empathetic, more compassionate, more understanding, more easy going, more flexible. To counter this and make it all that much more difficult and awkward, I also think I need to be more firm, more appropriate, more professional, more strict and less approachable.

The meeting I had yesterday was with someone that I am able to talk with freely about all of this. I still went into it tentatively. I barely had to say anything when the other person involved in the meeting backed me up. I hadn't realized that I was trying to keep myself afloat without any support until this woman tossed me a life jacket. She told me that I am not the first person to have the exact same problems with this student and that she has my back. She described the student as high maintenance, demanding and needy without a clear understanding of boundaries. Now I am generally not a fan of labels but when the shoe fits someone else's foot and gives me some space to breathe - it's hard not to jump on board with those labels.

We went over the parameters of my job together so that we were on the same page as far as my responsibilities go and then we discussed strategies for dealing with the situation. She offered to speak to the student about boundaries and appropriate behaviour and I declined the offer. I think it is best if I do it myself. If things don't change after that, then she will sit down with the student and discuss the situation.

This is going to be a challenge for me. I don't have these kinds of discussions well. There is also a small part of me that is looking forward to finally being..... wow, there isn't a word for what I want to say that I can think of that isn't negative. The ones that come to mind are all negative labels for a strong woman. What would we call a man who had firm boundaries and didn't put up with bs? A man. Hmmmm....ok so here's my sentence then. There is also a small part of me that is looking forward to finally being a strong woman.

And there you have it.