WF BLOG
Finding Joy Every Fall:
A Teacher’s Perspective
BY MICHELLE BLANCHARD ARDILLO
42 Washington FAMILY SEPTEMBER 2019
taken a huge cut in pay. I joke that I’ve
traded arguing with lawyers for arguing with
8th-grade boys, but the truth is I love teach-
ing. I make a difference in how they view
literature, their relationships with others
and the world around them. I love hear-
ing success stories from my students who
have graduated from college. I see the high
schoolers by going to their plays, concerts
and games. I get emails requesting recom-
mendations for scholarships. They tell me
how I inspired them, how well prepared
they were for higher education and how they
loved my classes.

I sometimes still get knots, but they are
aches from a hard day’s work, a job well
done, rather than anxiety and tension from
I joke that I’ve
traded arguing with
lawyers for arguing
with 8th-grade boys,
but the truth is I
love teaching.

arguing all day. Even on tough days, I’m
happy. Every fall as I set up my classroom
with new novels and fresh bulletin boards,
I am revitalized and inspired to spread my
passion for reading and writing. I find my joy
every fall. ■
M ichelle Blanchard Ardillo is a freelance
writer and middle school language
arts teacher at St. Jude Regional Catholic
School in Rockville, Md. Follow her at
michelleardillo.com. GETTY IMAGES/DIGITALVISION VECTORS/DDDB
F ollow your bliss. Find your joy. Find
something you love and you’ll never
work a day in your life. Follow your
passion, not a paycheck. These are things
you hear in commencement speeches, but
are they true?
For 20 years I worked in the legal field,
and for most of that, for a major real estate
developer. I represented the landlord in
lease negotiations with tenants moving into
shopping centers. While my job involved
writing legal contracts, the bulk of my day
was spent arguing — often in a very con-
tentious environment — with lawyers
representing national and regional tenants.

I became very good at arguing. I also made a
very good living doing it.

It didn’t take much for me to kick into
negotiator mode. I could take down a cus-
tomer service representative for a cell phone
service provider without breaking a sweat.

Served something I didn’t order or prepared
incorrectly? No problem, it’s on the house.

My “specialty” was getting extra mileage
or points for poor service from airlines and
hotels. Yes, I was good, but eventually it
began to wear on me, in the form of knots of
tension in my shoulders and back.

In 2002, my family moved to Belgium for
my husband’s work. Quitting my job caused
me great anxiety. As thrilled as I was for the
travel opportunities and life experiences,
I had never not worked, even through two
c-sections and back surgery. So, after get-
ting our house in order and our daughters
settled, I reported to the school’s library to
volunteer, which led to helping high school
students with research, substitute teach-
ing and being a part-time teacher’s aid.

When we returned to Maryland in 2004, I
knew exactly what I wanted to do: become
a teacher, which required graduate courses
and teaching certification.

Teaching middle school language arts is
challenging. Tweens and teens have unique
personalities, and not everyone loves read-
ing and writing as I do. I grade papers every
night and do lesson plans on Sunday. I’ve