but how old am i? really?

welp. just in the midst of a little identity crisis on account of the fact that no one seems to be able to reconcile my face/self to an age. shesh. para examplar:

- i've started observing in a middle school this semester for the school of ed. i LOVE it. however, on the first day, about four students asked my cooperating teacher, who is cute and about 30, if i was her daughter. suffice it to say, i didn't make a good first impression with ol offended ms. k.

- the next week when observing i walked around the room to help ms. k check the practice problems. one of the little boys, juan, covered his paper when i walked by. then he turned, saw it was me, and stated, "oh i thought you were one of them eighth graders trying to copy off my paper." no, juan. and if i was trying to cheat i probably wouldn't copy off yours, ifyouknowwhatimsaying.

-last week when observing one of the little problem children called out to me.
hellion - "ms emma?"
me - "it's anna, bud. you know that." -- he always calls me emma no matter what.
hellion - "right. well don't tell ms. k."
me - "don't tell ms k what?"
hellion - "don't tell her what i said."
me - "what'd you say?"
hellion - "that i think that you might be pregnant."
um what?!?!?!?!??!?!? so i gave him my fiercest teaching glare.
hellion - "ohhhhh she didn't answer. she must be pregnant."
good thing i have two more years to work on that glare, i guess.

- finally, on friday i took my little brother to the fair. in will's words, i "refused to parallel park so we parked a thousand miles away." in my mind, i wanted to avoid fair traffic so we parked a reasonable distance from the fair, which in turn made it so i also didnt have to parallel park (!). anyways, on our brief journey back to the car, a girl nearby (i swear she is not any older than me), asked, "excuse me but im about to get in my car. are ya'll sure you are okay to walk in the dark?"

so apparently im either a) young enough to be the daughter of a 30 yr-old b) an eighth-grader c) old enough to be with child or d) too young to walk in the dark (which in my mind is like 12).

smh. srsly.

i know i'm dramatic. get over it.

sometimes you get out of class at seven. and even your bones are chilly. and you realize you have three papers to write tonight. and then you look at this picture and all is right in the world. and your heart wears a smile.