Two Degrees of Separation

I basically met President Obama today. Well, no not really, but I do now have two degrees of separation to him, so that’s the same right? No? Well I still think it’s pretty cool.

So how, you might ask, did this come about? Early last week, my co-teacher (Chris) and I got an email saying that Commissioner Michael O’Reilly from the Federal Communications Commissions (from Washington D.C.) would be visiting Alaska today. He had a trip planned to see some of the villages, and somehow along the way, he decided to stop in Pilot Point..

Well first let me say that I was confused at first and could swear it was the Commissioner of Education. When I thought it was that person, I went into a panic. But then I relaxed a little when I reread the email and saw who was really coming. Still, I was nervous! What would he ask? What would I say? I’ve only been at this teaching in Alaska thing for two weeks for Heaven’s sake!

Similarly to most situations in my life, I was panicked for no reason.   This afternoon, during our inservice (I’m glad we didn’t have students at the time, because that would have just been too much chaos), the Commissioner arrived. There were a bunch of seemingly important people from Alaska alongside him. Honestly, I shook so many hands and heard so many names in the matter of a minute, that I couldn’t repeat a single name back to you besides the Commissioner’s. They were really nice people though, and I got to speak with Commissioner O’Reilly for a few minutes!  They had other things to do in the community before catching their plane out, but I’m glad I got to meet them and speak to them about my classroom and students for a little while.

So I didn’t meet the President, but who’d have thought that I would have met a Commissioner from Washington D.C. while teaching in rural Alaska? I’m constantly learning that you never know what can happen!

*No picture for today’s post- I couldn’t really go up to him and ask “Hey can I take a picture of you for my blog?”. Also finding a picture online seemed stalker-ish so you can do a google search if you’d like:)