No matter how logical our plans may be, life can easily thwart them. I was not immediately accepted at the local teachers’ college and ended up at one in a sprawling mega city two hours away. Networking found me an appropriate place to live, somebody to show me subway navigation and teach me urban survival hacks.

Teachers’ college memories are a blur of classes, practice teaching sessions and recurring bouts of exhaustion. In his opening address to the new candidates, the faculty’s dean told us that few of us would survive the dismal job market and land a teaching position. His zero inspiration made me resolve to beat the odds in spite of him.