This article presents the author's experience as a new teacher lamenting the lack of clear and achievable expectations. Given a book list in place of a curriculum on her first day, she comments that she can understand why such a lack of guidance for new teachers can lead to frustration and departures. She further shares that since becoming a teacher, her entire existence has revolved around a single, haunting question, "What is she going to teach next?" Whatever teachers choose to teach must be communicated through a written objective that must correspond to one of the state's English standards. While more experienced teachers who are well acquainted with their students and their craft may see this lack of structure as a blessing, as a new teacher, she finds the limitlessness overwhelming. She wonders how many of those departures could have been prevented if teachers were provided clear and achievable expectations for the year. She believes that with such guidance, instead of developing a curriculum from scratch and worrying about whether or not her students are prepared for the next grade, she could focus on how to best present the specified content, how to engage students, and how to meet the needs of those who are falling behind.