This has been a busy week for Cortney Jordan.
Thursday, she was hired by the Howard County Public School System to teach fourth grade at Bollman Bridge Elementary in Jessup.
Today, she is catching a flight to Houston, first stop on her way to Rio de Janeiro to swim in the 2016 Paralympic Games as a member of the U.S. Paralympics team.
"I am thrilled," Jordan said Friday morning from the airport. "Words can't described how thrilling it is."
In Houston, team members will go through processing, get their team gear and build some team dynamics, Jordan said.
Paralympic opening ceremonies are Sept. 7 and the games begin Sept. 8.
This is the third Paralympics for the 25-year-old from Henderson, Nev., who now lives in Baltimore. Jordan has cerebral palsy, and said her left side is partially paralyzed. She doesn't have use of her left leg and her left arm is weaker than her right.
Jordan has brought home eight medals so far in her Paralympic career: one gold, five silver and two bronze. She swims freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and individual medley.
Jordan said after her first event at the U.S. Paralympic trials in Charlotte, N.C. — the 400 freestyle — she knew she was on the team after she was ranked second in the world.
During the trials in June and July, the city of Charlotte "just totally opened its arms to us," Jordan said. "Hotels were accommodating and the town was really excited."
Standing-room-only crowds came to watch the swim trials, Jordan said, so that her parents, Dirk and Nancy Jordan, had to get there early to get a seat.
Jordan, who moved 13 times growing up in a military family, said she moved from Colorado to Baltimore three years ago to train with Loyola coach Brian Loeffler.
"I wanted to meet some goals outside my swimming career," Jordan said, so she earned a master's degree in elementary education in May from Loyola. Her new job at Bollman Bridge, first teaching position, is in the same classroom where she was an intern last year.
Classes begin Aug. 29 at Bollman Bridge Elementary. Jordan's math co-teacher, Olga Lloyde, will be taking over Jordan's classroom until the athlete returns.
Principal Rhonda Inskeep said parents have been notified about Jordan's absence and the fourth-grade students will learn about Jordan's trip to Rio on Monday.
"But everyone is really excited," Inskeep said. "We will follow her journey and watch some of the events."
Inskeep said the school plans to utilize Skype and Facetime so students, and even parents, can communicate with Jordan while she is in Rio.
Jordan said it's hard to tell how she will do in this year's competition at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio, but that she has been training "to the best of my abilities."
"I want to bring home some medals," Jordan said. "That's always the goal; come home with some sort of souvenir."