My students call me Mr. Thomas. They can be wonderful, but dealing with adolescent angst all day long gets old pretty quickly.

I can't complain, really. I do care about them, and I love knowing that I make a difference. After all, I chose to come here. Chose to come to the City, to teach, to actually contribute something with my life. It's a far cry from my former life in LA.

My parents passed when I was very young, and left their business and minor fortune to my Aunt, who raised me. She was more than happy to live the lifestyle afforded by their misfortune. With careful investment and a very good eye for opportunities, she was able to lead the life of a Hollywood sociallite, despite her lackof any kind of claim to personal fame.

I can't really complain too much about how she raised me. I never wanted for anything, as she made sure my needs were well tended to, and that I went to only the best schools. Of course, these tended to be the schools children of celebrities also attended, as she never missed an opportunity to make a connection.

She taught me well, about how to be fun yet discrete, able to participate in the most outrageous aspects of the lifestyle, but trustworthy to not share too many embarassing details with the press. By the time I was in high school, I was a favored friend and date for the children of the stars, as well as a few child stars themselves. I half-heartedly took a few college classes, as my Aunt knew a much better education and career would be as a partner for a particulary worthy (and therefore, of course rich and famous) celebrity. For several years, she seemed to be correct, as I was the on-again, off-again, on-again boyfriend of a particularly tempermental singer/actress.

After several years of this, I was ready for a real life. In the fall out of a particularly nasty nasty stint in rehab and breakup, I knew it was time for me to go. While the legal entanglements of my former life were wrapped up, I took classes and got my teaching certificate. To make the break with that lifestyle as clean as possible, I moved across the country to The City, and buried myself in doing something meaningful, in helping steer and mold young minds into a positive direction.

It's been quite a year, a challenge for one used to enjoying the perks of services rather than having to provide constant, well-planned yet spontaneous, direction and instruction for adolescents. At least my experience with celebrities and their ilk actually prepared me in some ways for the teenage dramas found in a high school. Still, now that I've survived my first year, I'm ready to be a social adult again. To see what the City has to offer beyond the halls filled with students.