Mr. Diamond

It felt weird to be walking through the green-painted doors of the school he would have gone to had he not moved back in 2001. It felt even stranger that he was entering as a teacher and not a student, even though admittedly he still looked like one, standing tall at 5'7''. He was a little nervous though he had foreseen exactly how the day would go and put the feeling off as excitement. He was wearing a dark collared shirt, covered by the beloved black jacket he had worn for years. His hand gripped his briefcase a little more tightly as he turned to the right and entered through the quiet office to the teachers' lounge, finding his very own nametag in the basket marked STUDENT TEACHERS. The picture had been taken earlier in the week at the special staff meeting for UBT's student teachers who had finally made it through all of their studies and would be put to the test as they attempted to educate others who may or may not care about the subject. He looked at it and smiled. There was just something about seeing OJA DIAMOND, STUDENT TEACHER, HISTORY that made him happy.

With his free left hand he took the silver pen from his pocket and signed in next to his name printed on the list of the three student teachers who were spreading their wings at Tarra Heights High School. He was at the top of the list as usual, right above Virgil Moss and Sylvan Vestus. He knew both well. Virgil was a familiar face in most of his education classes and he knew she'd make a great biology teacher. Sylvan was one of the first people Oja met in college and happened to be a fellow clarinet player. Oja was excited that Sylvan was finally student teaching band and was happy for him. He looked forward to seeing both over the next few months and thought excitedly about what the day had in store for him as he headed up the stairs to the heart of the school where he would again enter the classroom of Mrs. Ariana Costner.

Mrs. Costner was a kindly grandmother figure who was very smart and knew her stuff when it came to history. Her specialty was Catin History and for the past 20 years it was all she taught. When she discovered that there was a young education major who was not only studying Catin and Jadali History but was also a Man of Osai, she immediately put him on hold to student teach in her classroom and to take her place if possible. For the past semester Oja had been visiting her classroom a few days a week, silently observing and making comments when invited. The students loved him and were excited to have him as their student teacher.

Oja would be there every day from 7:40 to lunch, teaching Junior-level Kiillaanian History for 1st and 3rd period and the elective Catin History open to upperclassmen for 2nd and 4th period. After this he would return to school Tuesdays and Thursdays for afternoon orchestra and the music classes he chose to continue for his music minor. While it seemed like somewhat of a busy schedule Oja could easily handle it and more. Needing no sleep, he accelerated through every class he took and was able to get his two degrees done with plenty of room to spare. All that was left now was this semester of teaching to wrap up his college career.

As he walked through the door early in the morning, before the school was alive with students, Mrs. Costner greeted him with a smile. She stood quickly and walked cheerily over to him, shaking his hand with both of hers and began telling him some last-minute tips for teaching high schoolers and holding a captive audience. Oja was ready for this and was getting more excited to begin flying solo with little help from his mentor. He'd lectured a handful of times and had gotten the hang of handling the different personalities of a high school classroom. He excitedly shared his thoughts and feelings and waved at the students as they entered on their first day back from the Year's End break. Among the things he would find the weirdest was the fact that he would be called Mr. Diamond. That would take him a while to get used to!

As the room filled up and the bell rang, Oja stood to take his place at the front of the room. As he did so, Mrs. Costner gave his arm one last loving squeeze and, a twinkle in her eyes, whispered, "Happy Birthday!" She had remembered and Oja walked to take command of the class with a smile on his face, the visions of his two-year-old nephew wishing him a happy birthday that morning in his mind. It was his time to spread his wings and soar.