What would you be?

So we've been interviewing for new teachers this week at work, and part of the process is for the applicants to be interviewed bt the school council. There's representatives from all year groups who get the chance to ask questions on behalf of the students. Some say it's the hardest part of applying to join us! They ask for a member of support staff to observe the meetings - to ensure no inappropriate questions are asked, and on Monday it was my turn to sit in on the interviews.

Mostly it was the kind of thing you'd expect. "How do you think your students would describe you as a teacher?" "What's been your most rewarding incident?" "Why do you want to work here?" as my mind started to wander, I heard them ask "what 3 essential items would you put into an emergency teaching pack?" Emergency teaching pack? What kind of emergencies do you get in geography for goodness sake? The humanities department suddenly seemed a lot more exciting. Apparently an essential part of teaching geography is a regular supply of tea, as they all chose tea bags as one item. And just as I was wondering what 3 items I needed the most to do my job (patience, sense of humour and the ability to eats copious amounts of cake) the next random question was asked. "I think that's almost everything, but one last question ... If you were an animal, what would you be and why?". That made them all sit up and think! Because they couldn't just say an animal, they had to come up with why they chose it.  Sneaky eh?

So since then, I've been wondering what I would have chosen,  first choice - penguin.  Obviously. But take away the cuteness and the amusing waddle of a walk, I can't say I share their love of cold weather and I'm not a good swimmer.  An ant? I'm little and I work hard and when I set my mind to something, I'm very determined. That would go down well with a prospective employer surely? But ants can be annoying and no one really wants them in their house so I'll scrap that idea.  A zebra? The strength and hard working of a horse wrapped up in an unusual coat? No. I think I'd have to go with a dog.  Loyal, faithful, easily trained and will do anything for a treat! 

What would you choose?