Tomorrow I'm gonna start working for the first time. I'm gonna be an assistant teacher at an elementary school and I've never done this before so I'm super nervous. I'm excited to think of getting paid for the first time ever, but still I'm so scared because this is all so new to me. A mere year ago I had severe depression, had dropped out of college and lacked any perspective whatsoever. And nowadays I'm much better, but still I can't help but feel like everything is doomed to fail. I'm not used to things working out to me so I always take a hopeless/pessimistic approach on everything I do. It's never done me well to expect anything from anybody.

Can someone help me shake off these negative feelings? What should I expect from my first job?

Congratulations on not just a new job, but your first one at that! It's totally normal to feel nervous or scared on your first day of the job, regardless if it's your first job or fifth. It's brand new and you don't know what to expect. Given some time and experience, you'll feel comfortable!

With you being an assistant, I imagine you'll have a teacher (or someone of the likes) guiding you on what to do. If they're a decent person, they won't want you to fail! They'll want you to succeed and will understand that you're new at what you're doing. They have been in your shoes before. I'm not a teacher, but at my last job, I was a program leader for my local parks department. I lead programs for children (for example, I often lead a games and crafts program but we offered a lot more than just that). When I first started that job, I was so nervous. But one of my veteran co-workers taught me what to do from day one. I worked there for six years so overtime, I gained experience and was able to teach the new staff as they came in.

Also, if you make a mistake, don't fret over it and give yourself a hard time. In fact, you're bound to make mistakes. I understand it's easier said than done, though. I've worked at three completely different jobs before and have made mistakes at all three. If anything, you'll learn from them. Nobody is perfect! Again, I'm assuming there will be someone there to train you. I'm sure that person has made mistakes before as well.

I'll also mention to expect at least one person to have a bit of a bad personality. It's unavoidable. I've found that there are usually a couple of people that tend to want to cause drama, have a bad attitude, or have a negative personality, regardless if it's a co-worker, a supervisor, a boss, etc. I've experienced that at all my jobs and I'm sure if I get a different job in the future, I'll have the same problem. Unfortunately, it's just life. Just wanted to mention this as a head's up.

If I think of anything else major to mention, I'll edit or post again. But I hope everything goes smoothly!

, thank you so much! Everything went alright today, I just had to sit through long presentations and stuff; but I no longer feel so lost. Just as you guessed, I have two assigned teachers who are going to help me through everything and them seemed nice enough.

I have also just moved to a new place at a new town so I guess that's part of why I was so nervous. But I'm no longer as pessimistic. I'm sure I can do this and I'm looking forward to actually working with the kids :)

Yea at some places it can be a bit boring at first. I had to do a lot of reading at my current job when I first started. And I can definitely imagine how hard it would be to move to some place new in addition to a new job. All of my jobs have been around the same area.

Glad to hear the first day went smoothly though! Hope everything continues to go well!