I Can See Clearly Now…

Sometimes, it takes something we cannot control to remind us that we are human. I have always taken pride in being an incredibly hard worker and have been known to occasionally typically strive for an overachieving perfection in all I do.

About a month ago, I began experiencing an irritation in my eyes. Thinking it was allergies, I kept going with my 18 hour days because surely allergies couldn’t last forever. As another week passed and my eyes were still bothering me – I thought it was a lack of sleep. Well, couldn’t fix that! So, I kept going.

One morning, I arrived at school – completely exhausted from the behavior issue we were having, paperwork which was due, my work out schedule and several after-school appearances in one week. The nurse immediately told me I needed to go home – looked like I had pink eye in both eyes. Knowing it was impossible to go home with our staffing issues, I had to stay at school and suffer. How on earth did I get pink eye? How did I not know it was pink eye…because I had never seen it before! Luckily, I had an appointment with the dermatologist that day and she was able to prescribe drops for pink eye.

While I continued the drops, I woke up two days later with completely blurred vision. Being scared, and quite alone in Tulsa, I called my site director to explain that I was incredibly concerned about the lack of sight and asked if I could come in late after an optometrist looked over my eyes. She said to come in because staffing was tight, and I drove slower than I ever had on the highway to get to school.

When I arrived, my master teacher sent me straight to the optometrist and was furious that I had been required to come to school, let alone drive myself anywhere. Thank goodness my voice teacher recommended a Pi Phi alum’s husband to me, and his office was able to squeeze me in immediately.

Turns out, I didn’t have pink eye. FANTASTIC NEWS! So what did I have? Keratitis.

Keratitis is an inflammation of the cornea — the clear, dome-shaped tissue on the front of your eye that covers the pupil and iris. Keratitis can sometimes involve an infection, but noninfectious keratitis can be caused by a relatively minor injury (a fingernail scratch, or from wearing your contact lenses too long). Without immediate attention, mild to moderate cases of keratitis can usually be effectively treated without loss of vision. If it goes untreated, it can lead to scarring in the eye and possible loss of vision. (The Mayo Clinic)

Basically, the doctor explained it as my cornea is shedding, or peeling off, and the layers were blurring my vision and the inflammation caused the red, puffiness. My “exposure keratitis” was caused by many factors: accutane (prescribed by the dermatologist to dry out my skin, causing intense dryness and peeling of my body), a recent trip on a cruise with my family (the wind of the boat and intensity of the sun), and a lack of blinking (go figure – she said I must really keep my eyes focused on my students!).

I am so lucky to have caught it when I did, and with about forty-five four drops, three times a day, including a steroid, I will maintain my vision. I will continue treatment for the next two months, but the doctor said to slow down. While it was unexpected, I am listening to the hints from above to take it easier and make time for myself. All in all: lesson learned. Thank you to everyone for the good thoughts and prayers!

Miss Green Country’s Alter Ego

Many are aware of Miss Green Country’s alter ego, but for those who are lost – she is a teacher. I have been teaching through Teach For America (a two year commitment) since early August, in a Tulsa head start on the east side of town. By day, I am just “Ms. Mills.” I am a pre-kindergarten teacher who works with colors, shapes, numbers, letters, writing, reading, social emotional skills, and everything in between. As a teacher, I also make sure the kids have brushed their teeth twice a day, lay out the mats, set up family style dining, clean up messes and sanitize every thing in sight with bleach water mixed daily. I break up fights, wipe snot from faces, and teach four year olds how to prepare for kindergarten and beyond.

Basically, my job is anything but glamorous.

As previously mentioned, my MTLD (manager of teacher leadership and development through TFA) is the current Miss New Mexico USA and has been so helpful in finding ways to implement my title into my classroom. At the beginning of October I decided to utilize my crown as an investment strategy. Several of my kids want to be “firemen,” “police girls,” “princesses,” or “karate kid” when they grow up, so I devised a plan…

Each month I am going to invite a minimum of 1 community leader to my classroom to pump them up about going to college. By introducing the idea of higher education now, my students are SO much more likely to see college as a big goal and an attainable one at that. Teach For America is highly focused on the idea that every child, regardless of where they were born or level of income, deserves an excellent education. This meaning that we are trying to close the achievement gap and propel our youth into a positive future filled with possibilities.

The first visitor? Well, Miss Green Country of course!

Finding a way to explain what “Miss Green Country” was to a group of four-year-olds was a bit tricky! I gathered them in our morning circle after going through our morning learning time and told them I had a big surprise. I explained that when Ms.  Mills is not at school, she is Miss Green Country. Basically, she is a princess in Oklahoma! (Cue every girls’ eyes totally falling out of their head – adorable!). Beyond that, Ms. Mills is a princess in Oklahoma, but she wants to grow up to be the queen of Oklahoma. Then, if she becomes the queen of Oklahoma, she can work hard and possibly become the queen of America!

By this point, I was honestly shocked at how captivated they were. I then asked what they thought Miss Green Country needed to do in order to become the queen of Oklahoma. First, I reminded them that, just like for them to go to Kindergarten, she has to know her letters, numbers, colors and shapes! She is also very helpful, nice to ALL her friends, and uses nice words. Somehow…it was working! We then did “Share the News,” part of each morning  where we partner up and take turns answering the question. I had the kids chat about what else Miss Green Country needed to do in order to become the queen! They loved this!

I passed around the crown and some used it as a steering wheel, while others knew exactly how to put it on! Needless to say…they were a little excited. Some were still a bit confused as to how their teacher was also a princess….but at the end of the day, we knew that each of us would have to work hard and get smart in order to go to Kindergarten OR become Miss Oklahoma!

Green Country Greetings

In the past few weeks I have had so many fantastic opportunities! I am loving my directors, Kevin and Eddie, and am beyond thrilled with what we have planned for this year. A week after I was crowned, I was able to watch Miss Mustang. Congrats to Hailey Holloway – a wonderful winner! We will have too much fun at Miss O this June! 🙂

On Sunday, I was able to attend Miss Oklahoma’s Outstanding Teen, Clytee Burchett’s, send-off party. Words cannot even begin to describe what a perfect representative she will be for Oklahoma. Clytee has such a genuinely pure heart and I have never met someone who is exuberant with joy in everything she does. While at the send-off, I saw several friends and made a new best friend in Brian’s daughter, Caris. We had a great time playing in the gorgeous host home, oooh-ing and ahh-ing over everything Clytee wore, and eating cupcakes (June is really far away!). Kevin snapped several pictures but I don’t have them just yet! Here is a precious picture of one of my stars, Maddy! I can already tell this little angel will be more than a blast this year and I can’t wait to get on-stage with her.

This is my first week of school so I have been busy preparing, but I am already amazed by how many tiny lives I am able to touch through teaching. I have learned much more than I expected to in just one day with my 4-year-olds, and this will be the experience of a lifetime!