Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.

In 2002 our family embarked upon a monumental adventure: we moved to a foreign country for two years for my husband’s job. I asked for a leave of absence from my longtime job as a commercial real estate paralegal, but it was not granted. During those two years living abroad, I volunteered quite a bit (alright, A LOT) at the international school my daughters were attending. I fell in love with the school atmosphere, the classroom, the camaraderie amongst the faculty, the middle school kids, going to “work” with my daughters and coming home with them at the end of the school day, just everything about it.

So, upon our return to the States, I made a big decision: I wouldn’t return to my paralegal career. I would instead go back to school and get certified to teach middle school English.

My first teaching job in my second career was in 2007 at a wonderful Catholic K-8 school with a double track, meaning there were two sections for every grade, 7A and 7B, 8A and 8B, and so on. I was assigned to teach two periods of 8th English and 4 periods of 8th literature. I was in heaven!

On the first day of school, my first period class, 8A English, came in and took their seats. I called roll and noticed two students with the same last name. I asked, “Are you twins?” One of them said, “No,” so I continued down my class sheet.

Second period, my next class, 8B English, came in and took their seats. About half way down the page, I noticed two students with the same last name once again, and oddly, the same last name as the two students from first period. I asked again, “Are you twins?” One of them said, “No,” so I asked, “Are you cousins?” Again, “No.”

This was very puzzling, four students with the same last name, two boys and two girls, one of each in 8A and one of each in 8B. But, this was a community where a lot of the parents of the students had also gone to school there and married and moved into their old neighborhood to raise their kids there, sending them on to their same K-8 school. Maybe the parents of these kids all came from one big family? But, wouldn’t that make them cousins at least?

At lunchtime that first day, I went to the faculty lounge to warm up my leftovers, and greeted all of my new colleagues, the rest of the middle school teaching staff. I asked about the four students all with the same last name, and commented that I had asked 8A if they were twins and then asked 8B if they were twins or maybe cousins? One of the teachers laughed and said, “They aren’t twins OR cousins, they are quadruplets!” I also learned that there were TWO sets of twins also in 8th grade, which I had missed picking up as I was too busy pondering the four with the same last name.

The next day, I asked the 8A pair why they hadn’t told me they were quadruplets. The girl of the 8A pair responded in typical teenage fashion, “Because you didn’t ask us that!”

On that first day of a major career change for me, that first day teaching school, I learned an important lesson. Teenagers are very literal, and I realized that literary elements like metaphors and idioms would be somewhat challenging for this age group!

I taught at that first school for 10 years, and then transferred to the also wonderful Catholic K-8 school in my home parish. I retired in January of 2024, and while I am loving retirement and all the freedom that entails with more time to read and write, I still miss the classroom, the kids, and the books I used to teach.

While this new career proved to be personally fulfilling, it was a significant hit to our income stream, but somehow we made it work. I love having former students come up to me now and tell me how they are doing, what they are doing, what they are reading. Looking over my previous class sheets, I can name doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, writers, artists, and especially fulfilling, teachers.

And as the saying goes, you don’t go into teaching for the income, you go into teaching for the outcome. In that regard, I hit the jackpot!