Anytime we have to deal with the Government it feels like it takes forever.  It makes sense though;  I think many people are addicted to procrastination and take it out on any dealings they may have with Government because “I pay my taxes”.  Although I was not mad, nor irritated, just anxious, waiting for my Teaching Certificate felt like it was taking an extremely long time to be processed.  Just out of curiosity I decided to check on the Ministry of Education’s website for my name as a qualified teacher.  I had two questions:  1. What happens when someone who is not approved yet is searched for (as this is what I expected to see when I searched for myself )? and 2. Have I been approved yet?  I didn’t have to answer question 2. because my search for myself showed that I was qualified.  I hadn’t been notified yet, nor did my account that I log into show anything; so I decided to make a few phone calls to confirm what I was seeing.

To the public, it looked as though I was qualified.

FINALLY! But was it true?  So a quick call to Ministry of Education I figured would do the trick; sadly this was not true.  I had called at 2:30pm and everyone that the switchboard could transfer me to just entered a meeting at 2:30pm, but will be out at 4:00pm, closing at 4:30pm.  I figured that I would just wait and call back at 4:10pm; my subconscious wouldn’t wait the 1hr 40mins.  How could I verify this NOW?  Should I contact the school board? The Teacher Qualification Services?  Who?  My next call went out to the Teacher Qualification Services (TQS), the branch of the Government that decideds how much we get paid.  The man I spoke with said “I just processed your information this morning”.  I asked him if he knew when I might expect to see my TQS card; he said I should have it next week.  Excellent.  Now, how can I start working?  I know I have opportunities ready, it’s just that I hadn’t received my cards yet.

It was time to call the School Board.  I figured that if the public can look me up and it says that I am a qualified teacher in British Columbia, then I should be ready to go.  I emailed the school board asking them if there is any way of verifying what I had found out;  I received an email back 10 minutes later letting me know that I have now been marked as ‘active’ in the TOC callout system.  How awesome it was to read that email response.  Everything I have been doing for the past four and half years was now starting to pay off; i’m not negating how hard it is to get TOC positions in this district,  it’s just a milestone for me.

I didn’t call the Ministry of Education back at 4:10, instead I received a phone call from my mother saying she had some mail at her house from the Ministry of Education and did I want her to open it up for me.  It was my Teaching Certificate and Teacher Card.  It had been sent from Vancouver on Monday, I was calling on Thursday.  It is amazing how things work out sometimes.  Had I have checked the website on Monday I would have been working earlier, however I can’t look at it like that.  Everything happens the way it is supposed to.  Now I am just waiting form my TQS card.