Sweet Teaching Victory!

We interrupt the (probably) never-to-be finished posts about Europe in order to bring you a real-time life update: I passed my National Boards!

Here is a picture of me, triumphantly holding up the computer notice that I passed:

What does this mean, exactly? On an intrinsic level, there's validation for what I do. On a practical level, there's a slight pay hike. More importantly, it means my certification is valid for 10 years, so I've got a decade off from worrying about that particular maze of bureaucratic red tape. No longer will I be jumping through hoops to keep my job. No longer will I have to worry that, if I take a year or two off for kiddos, I'll be ineligible to teach when I'm ready to come back.

Never you fear... I'll get plenty of exercise jumping through other kinds of hoops. This is, after all, public education we're talking about. :)