With the end of summer, it is back to the grind of another school year. My school district started a little earlier this year, starting in early August. So far, things have gone well. I am back teaching 6th-grade Social Studies, and my students seem eager to learn. I’ve also taken on some more responsibilities at work. I am the team leader for my team of teachers (due to having a new teacher, another out on medical leave, and the other who didn’t want to do it). Also, I was made Social Studies department chair, which I have done before. On top of that, I have been selected to be a mentor teacher to one of our new teachers (which I have never done before). It is shaping to be a busy 10th year in the profession.
I have taken on these extra responsibilities, making me even more happy that I stepped away from coaching last year. As some may know, I coached archery for several years at my old school. I helped build the program, and with a great team of assistant coaches, we took home two district championships. But right around the time Covid lockdowns hit, I started feeling burnout. It is a very long season (we started in October and would keep going until May, or longer if we got into the post-season). We also only had a handful of kids who were really into it after we started back from lockdown; for the others, we babysat them.
It really hit me when I was missing out on family and friend events due to having to do an archery tournament. I missed several gatherings because we were stuck hosting or attending a tournament all day. I realized I was missing out on what was important to me. So, when I got a chance to switch schools, I had a reason to leave coaching behind. The school I am at now has a coach and archery program, so I am going to let him at it.
My student travel program is also gearing up for the year. This past summer, we went to Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. In the spring, I am taking a group to Rome and Athens. I also talked another teacher into starting her own travel program with the same agency to bring students to Japan next summer. My main motivation for that was to take a little break and hopefully do a trip with my wife for our anniversary in 2026.
My busy professional life also means my writing will have to slow down a bit. However, I am still contributing articles to Medium (I’ve almost hit 500 followers!), generating a decent supplemental income. I am also getting closer to finishing the manuscript for my next novel. So, all in all, things are going well.
However, I have to give up something because I am so busy. I will have to pause the History Under the Radar podcast. It was a fun project, and I did better than I thought I would, but a few things have caused me to need to step away.
First of all, there is time. For a while, I was able to record about once a week. Sometimes, I could record multiple episodes in a week and schedule them to go. This allowed for a good backlog when I had to go on hiatus. I decided to take a break when I traveled to Europe in July, with plans to return to it after I returned. But, once I got back, I found myself busy preparing for back to school. I just have not had the time to sit down and record like I hoped.
The next problem I ran into was some changes Spotify made to their podcasting platform. Near the beginning of the year, they decided to integrate their recording with Riverside, another recording platform. Riverside is great for video podcasts, but mine is strictly audio. I really enjoyed the ease of putting my podcast together with the tools Spotify provided. So basically, now, I would record my podcast on one platform and then import it to another.
I know this is something that many creators do, and I figured it would be relatively painless to transition. I downloaded some recording software and planned to use it over the summer. There are some technical details that I still have to work with, such as tweaking the sound and editing, that I do not have the time for right now.
Sadly, History Under Radar may be done. Thanks to those of you who took the time to listen. Twenty episodes are terrific for a small-time podcast project. I’m hoping to either relaunch the podcast or start another one when I become a bit more tech-savvy.
For now, I am still going to keep plugging away and trying to create great content for you guys. Until next time.
Stay awesome!