A.P. (Absolutely Panicked)

Workdays started today. The principal had us all wear college or pro teams jerseys to drive home the point that we are a team and must work as a team to succeed this year. I think I'm really going to like her as a leader. She seems very straightforward and far, but also very much on top of her game. And I got to meet most of the people in the English Department today. turns out Lucy, Kate and I aren't the only new people in English. About half of the department has changed and everyone in English 1 is new, except for one person. He was really helpful today in getting us acquainted with the system and procedures. Everyone was really helpful. I think I'm going to like the people in the English Department. Not that I thought I wouldn't like them, but you get what I mean.
I saw my classroom today. In my mind, I've had this vision of my room since January. Its perfectly clean, with freshly painted white walls and several bulletin boards around the room. There are filing cabinets, bookshelves and one of the really nice desks that my teachers had when I was in grammar school. Sometimes, there is even a smartboard (although I don't really know how to work them). In my mind, I'm directly across the hall from my friend Kate and we're in an entirely English wing of the building.This vision is not my reality.
In reality, my classroom is a mobile trailer set up outside of the main building. Kate got a pretty classroom inside the building and Lucy, the other TFA corps member teaching English 1, got the room directly across the hall from her. There is an English wing, kind of, but I'm not in it. In the real world, my classroom is painted three different colors--blue, pale green and bight, hurt your eyes bright, florescent yellow. The previous teacher hasn't moved his/her things out yet, even though they were supposed to have done that by today. And I couldn't find the person anywhere, so the boxes and piles are still sitting there. The filing cabinets are either locked or filled with this person's things. There is one bulletin board and two small-ish white boards. If I remember correctly, I have a screen that pulls down and I think there is an overhead projector. I haven't seen one of those since I was 12. I have a desk, but one of the legs is all bent out and quasi-broken. The desk is standing though, so I guess its all about the small victories.
Still, I'm certain that one this other persons things are gone and I have a chance to really start setting up, I'll be able to make it into a great place. I've got ideas for posters and signs and a sense of how i want to arrange things. And maybe next semester I'll paint one of those yellow walls a different color. And I'm not out there in the trailerhood all by my lonesome. At least one other English teacher is in the room next to me. She teaches English 2 and has been super nice and helpful. So i'm excited about that. And, being outside of the main building, there are less distractions from inside, with all of the drama and craziness that can happen in the hallways. Still, I kind of wish I was inside. I think i'm the only corps member who is outside in a trailer. I'm afraid I'll be slightly disconnected from everyone. It just means I'm going to have to make an even greater effort to stay in the loop. Cause thats something I'm so great at doing to begin with (if you could hear my voice, you'd find it dripping with sarcasm).
I'm sure in the end, it will all work out. Like I've said before, I'm trying out this whole, go with the flow, roll with the punches, be flexible and open minded kind of attitude. Hopefully it works out for me.

New Teacher Orientation

Today was the new teacher orientation at my school. It was so exciting to actually get in the school and start to try and learn your way around (the school is huuuuuge, with 6 different wings). We didn't get to see our classrooms yet, but only because the principal forgot the list at home. If we call up on Monday we'll be able to get it. It's all just gotten that much more real.
There are 14 incoming corps members at the school and about 25 new teachers total. Its great to be there with so many other corps members. The principal and several of the administrators were there to introduce themselves and go over things. One of the assistant principals is a former corps member, which is really awesome. You could hear the TFA lingo in the way she spoke. It wasn't as clear as with the people who still work for TFA, but the phrasing and word choice were definitely there at some points. I found that to be mildly amusing.
The principal, Dr. V, seemed really great. Very enthusiastic and eager to get students on track. The only deal breaker.... she's a self-proclaimed, die-hard Duke fan. Anyone who knows me well knows that I loathe Duke. Seriously, I can't stand them. My whole family can't. Next week, my mom and my sister are driving from Charlotte to NJ and stopping to see schools. My mom literally said to me yesterday, "well, we're going to go to Chapel Hill because your sister wants to look at UNC. And then we're going to go drive through Duke and laugh at people". I guess I'll have to bite my tongue and not mention my loyalty to the Tar Heels for the next two years.
We spent the afternoon going through the teacher evaluation process, learning about the culture of the school and getting a tour from the executive board of the student council. Actually getting to meet some of the students was amazing. I know these are the students who are already involved, dedicated and invested but it was still amazing to see how much these kids loved their school and were really looking to be challenged. One girl even told me she wants to go to George Washington University in DC. Squeal!!
It was all a little overwhelming, but it seems like the administration is going to be really great and helpful. I'm starting to get really pumped for the school year.

Round Zero

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of days now, but I keep getting distracted by some kind of project I have to do for Round Zero. Even now, I'm supposed to be working on a sample long term plan (because I don't actually know what grade I'll be teaching yet). This week has been kind of crazy with some unforeseen developments and some frustrating expectations.
To start off with, my roommate found out on Tuesday that she didn't pass the English II Praxis exam and, because of that, has to defer for a year. She's not the only one this has happened to either. Several people, including my institute co-lab and some of my friends, did not pass the Praxis and are being forced to defer for a year. One girl in the Charlotte corps quit her job with the top p.r. firm in DC to come do TFA. And now they can't/won't place her. Everyone in that position is pretty frustrated, understandably so. Especially because the state of North Carolina does not require you to pass the Praxis before you begin teaching. In NC you have three years after you start teaching to pass the exam. TFA is a two year commitment, which means we could all teach for two years and not have to ever take the exam. The passing of the Praxis is simply a TFA requirement and not one that is set by CMS. And that means those people can, legally, teach here in Charlotte. But TFA won't place them. But I digress.
My roommate isn't being placed this year.It was pretty surprising and nerve-wrecking, mainly because she was left with the question of how she was going to pay for her rent and afford to stay in Charlotte. Luckily she was able to get a job as an assistant manager at a high end retail store she used to work at and she's going to become a substitute teacher for the year. Honestly, she'll probably end up making more money than I do, which seems kind of ridiculous. That was Tuesday night.
Wednesday was the first day of Round Zero, which is the portion of your training that is focused on forming your big goal, your class vision and your long term plan for the year. We've had pretty long days (stating at 8:30 and getting out between 5:30 and 8) for the last four days. Including Saturday. And now I'm sitting in my room working on a sample long-term plan to submit to my Program Director (PD) to show that, when I do get my grade assignment and curriculum (hopefully tomorrow), I will be able to actually write one. It seems to be a bit of a waste of time, since everyone else is just jumping in feet first. I'd rather just wait until I know what I'm teaching, rather than create something that I may never use. Oh well.
The past few days, while drafting my goals and creating my plans, I've been struggling with this one concept. How do you not lower your expectations for your students, while still being realistic about where you will be able to go with them? Is it wrong for me to expect that they will not come into my class reading on grade level? Is it wrong to be realistic and assume that I will not be able to reach every single child, despite how hard I try? I don't want to lower my expectations. I want my students to be help to the same level that I was held to in high school. But, at the same time, is that naive and unrealistic.
In my perfect, idyllic vision of my classroom, my students sit quietly in their desks when I'm teaching, they do their homework every night and participate in class discussions. In this world, the students are actively engaged with the materials and I'm able to challenge them with work that is beyond our grade level. This vision has students that are dedicated and determined to succeed, not because I have promised them a pizza party or some other prize, but because they know that doing well in school is important for your future endeavors. Not surprisingly, my vision of a perfect classroom stems very much from my own high school experiences. Maybe not every single student in my school acted like this at all times, but this was the general norm throughout the student body. But, I went to a very small, private, all girls Catholic high school. We acted in that way because it was expected of us by our teachers, by our families and, at times, by the greater community. Its the kind of experience I want for my students, because being in that type of environment fostered a love of learning in me and helped prepare me for my future experiences. To what extent though, is it realistic for me to hope to see this in my students? And, if I'm being "realistic" in not holding them to this perfect standard, am I lowering my expectations? There is a fine line between being realistic and lowering expectations and I find myself stuck on the high wire trying not to fall off of either side. To mix metaphors, I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hard place with no way of escaping unharmed. Good thing I have a pretty high pain tolerance.

I'm a Big Kid Now

For such an important month, I know I've been severely lacking in the posting area. Although, I must say, I've done a better job than some people (cough Liz cough). But, for all the insanity that has come with the second half of July, it seems like its all starting to sink in and make sense. Its like I'm starting to be able to see myself living here. As opposed to some idealistic figment of my overactive imagination.
Right now, I'm sitting on my bed in my apartment, having just gotten back from hanging out with one of my friends at her new place. I spent the last 2.5 days unpacking, assembling furniture and getting situated in my new apartment. I've still got a long ways to go in terms of turning this place from an open apartment into something that resembles and inhabitable home. We need living room furniture (a couch, coffee table, tv stand, tv and some things for the walls), my mom is buying me a kitchen table when she comes to visit in two weeks and I need to get a bookcase and a  few pictures to hang up. Hopefully, by mid-September, we'll be settled in and ready to go. At least, that my plan.
It's kind of frustrating, because I really just want the whole place to be set up and ready to go but I know it cant all be done in a day. I'm well aware off the phrase "Rome wasn't built in a day". I guess I just wish I had the money to get it all done now instead of having to wait a month to get it all situated. Plus, I found out yesterday that people in the Baltimore Corps are being paid $100/day during Round Zero (the training we complete in our region before school starts). Thats insane! It's like, a $1000. With that much money, my roommate and I could definitely finish off our apartment and have everything ready to go. I don't understand why we're not getting paid for Round Zero. There are fewer Charlotte members than there are in Baltimore. So if they're getting paid, why aren't we/ Although, maybe we are and we just don't know it yet. that would be so fantastic!!

Hey, I can dream. Can't I?

Lil Hunt

This is how my SD (school director) signs the emails that he sends to us:

"Cheers-

Lil' Hunt

School Director
Clarksdale High School
Clarksdale, MS
United States of America
North America
Northern Hemisphere
Earth
The Solar System
Second Spiral Arm to the Left
Milky Way Galaxy
The Local Group
The Universe
?"

He is an enigma.

Boyle, MS

It's down to the last week here in Cleveland and, I must say, it is almost bittersweet. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be going home for a week and to be returning to civilization, but there are certain things about the Delta that I've come to enjoy. Like the people I've met at Institute who aren't in my region. Like the fact that I can go out to The Pickled Okra (yes, you read right. the Pickled Okra) and leave my bag on a table while I hang out/dance/drink and no one will touch it. Like the fact that everywhere we go, local people stop to talk to us about Teach for America and thank us for being here...the sense of community that these people have. Its very refreshing. Still, even considering all these things, I find myself counting the days until I can drive away and head back to North Carolina.
This past week was pretty good, all things considered. The kids took a while to get back into the swing of things after the long weekend. I never would have thought that a three day weekend could have such an effect on their ability to concentrate on Tuesday. It all came to a head on Wednesday when a kid got jumped in the morning and their was a huge fight in the lobby of the school. Two of our guy teachers got sucker punched trying to break it up and pull the kids apart. Apparently it had something to do with a gang related feud from over the weekend. It's kind of starling to think of some of our kids being in gangs. They're mostly 15 and 16 years old! So we've had to change our procedures for the morning, lunch and dismissal as a result. Its crazy to have to change everything this late in the game but it's completely necessary.
On Friday I went, for lack of a better term, on a pub crawl through Cleveland, MS. Mollie and I started at El Cabana where we met Liz and had frozen Margaritas that were comparable to Lauriol Plaza (in DC). We then went to the Warehouse, where my school team was having a happy hour. A ton of TFA people flooded the bar and we all had a good time. But they had last call at 10:00 (really pushing the late night here in the Delta) so everyone moved over to Backdraft. They were slightly more equipped to deal with so many people,  and they stayed open until (gasp!) 11:30! We were all pretty tired at that point anyway. That whole up at 4:30 thing tends to do that to you.

Yesterday I went to Graceland with Mollie and then met Liz at Harrah's in Tunica. MS to go to the Paula Deen restaurant. Graceland was..... an experience. I'm not sure what I expected going in, but I think I forgot that the guy died in 1977 and, therefore, his house would be decorated like something from the 70s. Because that's what it is. Never mind the crazy, insane level of devotion that some people feel towards him. There is an eternal flame at his grave. I'm sorry, when did they move John F. Kennedy to Graceland? I missed that memo.

Tunica was really cool. The casinos are out over water because you can't gamble on land. I always think those are hysterical to see. Liz and I love our casinos and the Paula Deen buffet was amaaaaazing. Seriously, the cornbread casserole and Hoe Cakes were the greatest thing I'd ever eaten. We gambled for a hot second and then made our way back to Cleveland to go out for Mollie's birthday, which is today.

Today I went with Liz to Boyle. MS to take a picture in front of the sign. Not gonna lie, it was pretty freakin sweet. This afternoon my school team had a bbq at a local park by DSU. All I know is I went from saying "no, I don't want to play kickball. I'm just going to watch." to lying flat on my back, with a scraped leg and grass stained shorts, clutching the kickball in my hand thinking "how the hell did I get here?" It was like I was back in high school again for a hot second and everyone on my team thought it was pretty damn amazing that I caught every single ball that was kicked in my general direction, despite how close I was or how high it was kicked. Thats what four years as a starting, varsity goalkeeper will get you. And my parents spent a lot of money making sure I had cat-like reflexes and velcro hands. Needless to say, we won the game.

So now I'm settling in to do work for tomorrow's lesson and planning out the end of my week. Only 5 more days with the kids and then its back to Charlotte and on to New Jersey. God, I miss the glory and wonder that is the Garden State.

Slippery Downhill Slope

When I started Institute, I told myself I wasn't going to let it change me. I knew TFA was trying to test every fiber of our beings and break us down so that they could mold us into the type of people they wanted us to be. I was prepared for that. I'm mentally tough. I could take it. I would leave the Delta the exact same person I was when I got there, with 5 more weeks worth of memories and knowledge. I was wrong.
As I sit at my desk on the verge of week 4, reading over blog posts of mine from finals week, senior week and Induction, I'm realizing that I'm not the same person I was when I got here last month. I'm very different. And I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that. That one line from that famous motivational saying keeps popping into my head... "if something tries to change you, let it". I suppose I should embrace the idea that this experience is going to change me. In the back of my mind I always knew it would.
Then I stop and think about the conversation I had with Liz at dinner tonight. We were recounting our July 4th weekends to each other (I went to New Orleans, she went to Memphis) and she was explaining to me that people got up at 8 a.m. this morning to start doing work, even though we don't have anything to hand in until Thursday. And then she was telling me about an SLA corps member who felt the need to go into her classroom on Saturdays during her first year, just so she could make sure everything was perfect. I don't want to be that person. That person has no life outside of work. So the two of us made a pact that we would 1. definitely go on our cross country road trip next summer, 2. call each other if we ever felt the need to go into school on a Saturday and 3. remember that it is possible to have a life outside of TFA and refuse to let it become our only existence. TFA is what I do and, for now at least, it is a part of who I am but that does not mean that I will let it become the only thing in my life. I'm going to stay in touch with my friends from school, do things that do not revolve around closing the achievement gap and not let every other joke I make be in reference to TFA.
Last night, after the fireworks ended, I was sitting on the steps of a gazebo on the edge of the Mississippi River in the French quarter, with a frozen daiquiri in my hand and a brass band playing a mash up of Kanye West and the Backstreet Boys. As I sat there, I started thinking of last year's 4th of July and how I spent it in DC with Liz, Erin and Nick. At that point, on that weekend, I was as content with my life as I ever could have hoped to be. If someone had come up to me last year, while I saw sitting on the Mall with Erin and Nick waiting for the fireworks, and asked me, "Kaitlyn Boyle, where will you be one year from now on the 4th of July?" I would have looked them in the eye and, without a moment's hesitation, said "I'll be right here. On the Mall with my friends, waiting for the fireworks." Never, in a hundred years, would I have said that I'd be in New Orleans with a daiquiri and a brass band. Not that it's a bad thing. It just nowhere close to where I thought I'd be.
I also realized something else last night. At some point, I will move back to the District. I'm learning more and more that it is the city I belong in... it's my second home. I may not get back there right away, and definitely have things I want to do before I arrive, but before I turn 30 I will have moved back there. Maybe it's my time in the Delta thats talking, and maybe I'll move to Charlotte in 2 weeks and love it more than I can describe, but DC is a part of me. This spring, I would drive to Tangy Sweet, or to the bank or to Costco and I'd catch glimpses of the Capitol and Dupont and I'd realize that, for all the trouble and aggravation it causes me, that city is my happy place. I say all the time that my happy place involves 2 palm trees, a beach, a pina colada and an ocean breeze. That is my happy place, in my fantasies. Bu DC is my real life happy place. Hot summers, bad traffic, poor snow removal and annoying text messages included. I'll take it all.
I guess this post has kind of turned into a bit of a stream-of-consciousness reflection on the past couple of weeks and how I've been feeling about them. It's probably time I start focusing this blog more on TFA related items but, to me, it has become so intertwined with my life that it isn't possible to distinguish the institution (the organization, not the training) from myself. And, in the end, I think thats exactly how Teach for America wants it to be.

Government Conspiracy

"If you were to drive on to Delta State's campus right now, you would think there is some kind of government conspiracy going on. People are just frantically copying and printing and everyone is dripping in sweat. And this school is doing little things to slowly drive us crazy. Like not turning on lights or randomly changing their hours. All I wanted today was a cup of coffee but the dinning hall had no mugs and no milk. Then, the coffee shop didn't open until 6 because it was open from 6-10 at night on Sundays." -my roommate on the phone with her boyfriend.

She's right. Everything this school and TFA is doing is designed to try and drive us nuts and test our mental toughness. And she just told me about how halfway through the day her co-labs realized that they were teaching active and passive voice in the opposite way of the Mississippi state standards. We died laughing for almost 10 minutes. it's not really funny. It's actually very tragic but we're so delirious that its hysterical.

We meet our kids tomorrow....

Bug Spray and Blackouts

Two days down in the Delta. We've got our teaching assignments for the summer...I'm teaching a class called Delta Writing Project, which is an elective creative writing class that students are electing to take. So I'm not teaching a remedial class. I think its going to be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. We already have lesson plans due on Thursday and our students show up on Monday. Talk about hitting the ground running.
Yesterday was an 18 hour day that began at 5:15, when some girl knocked my cup of coffee all over my white shirt and ended with a 3 hour long tour of the Delta State University campus and its resources. Halfway through the tour, the entire campus lost power....for two hours. Well, that was my breaking point for the day. My parents called and I took all my frustration out on my dad, which I felt bad about 20 minutes later. I think, instead of trying to summarize my thought on the first day of Institute, it would be better for me to copy and paste the email that I sent to my dad to apologize for freaking out at him and explain that I wasn't really on the ledge after day one. In my opinion, I wouldn't be able to better summarize my thoughts on the day and my impressions of the Delta. So I won't try to. Instead, I'll leave you with this email that was sent after we got our power back around 9:45 (after it had been out for almost 2 hours).

Hey,

We got our power back about 45 minutes ago and I just finished doing my work that I have due at 7:15 tomorrow. I was really hot and sweaty when I talked to you a while ago and we'd been walking around on a "tour of campus" in the pitch black for 2 hours. And that started after I had 15 minutes to scarf down some dinner because it took us an hour to get back from school, which we'd left for at 5:50. I'd reached my limit for the day.

In the grand scheme of things, today wasn't so bad. The whole day ran pretty smoothly and I got to meet the people who are going to be in my advisory group, which has about 10 corps members in it. There are a couple people from Charlotte, two from the Mississippi Delta and one from, I think, Eastern North Carolina. I also found out what I'm going to be teaching for the summer. I'm teaching a class called the "Delta Writing Project," which is an elective enrichment class on creative writing for high school students. I definitely lucked out with that because they don't guarantee you a place teaching your actual subject since the summer is about learning to teach and not learning content. So there are some high school English teachers who are teaching middle school reading and math or science. Plus, my class isn't going to be a remedial class with students who have failed the course already. It's solely an enrichment class, which I think could be fun. And everyone is assigned to teach with at least one collaborative teacher for the summer, another corps member from one of the regions here. My co-lab is from the Charlotte region, by chance, and I think we'll get along pretty well. Tomorrow night we have our official opening ceremony and Wendy Kopp, the founder and ceo of TFA, is coming to speak to us. That's going to be pretty awesome to see! We're all kind of hoping she'll sign copies of her book that we have. 

Overall the Delta isn't so bad. Yes, its hot and unimaginably humid. And the mosquitoes are the biggest things I've ever seen. They're really more the size of small hummingbirds than they are insects. But it's not all bad. I'm not saying I'd want to live here (I could never handle that) but spending five weeks here won't be horrible. The community and the entire state of Mississippi is so invested in this Institute and in the corps members that are going to be moving here. It's really remarkable. Yesterday, the entire city of Cleveland came to campus to help out with registration and move in and tomorrow night the State Secretary of Education is coming to our welcoming ceremony. The Delta is the lowest performing region in the state, and Mississippi ranks 50th, nationally, in terms of education on a whole. So, to them, we're the best, if not the only, chance their kids have at a good education. It's kind of cool and incredibly humbling at the same time. 

And, in terms of history, the Delta is fairly indescribable. One of the history professors on campus is a specialist in Delta history and moved down here to study it 10 years ago after teaching at George Mason for over 20 years. He's one of the country's leading experts on the region. He's offering to give a tour of the area to corps members on Saturday, where we'll spend the entire day driving around the region going to different historical sites and eventually have lunch at a restaurant owned by one of the senators from MS, who is going to be there to meet us. The tour is going to start at 9 and go until about 4, which is really long, but I definitely think its worth it. The history major in me is very excited about the whole thing. I know of a couple people who are going to do it and Liz said she was going to go too. And BB King is coming to campus next week and we can see him for $25. I'm not a huge fan of his (honestly, I don't think I've ever heard much of his music) but the opportunity to see him perform is definitely something I'm going to take advantage of. I mean, he's BB King and when else am I ever again going to have the chance to see him perform, especially in such a small venue? It's like passing up the chance to see Elvis.

We have off on Monday July 5th, and I think a bunch of Charlotte corps members are talking about going to New Orleans for the long weekend. It only about 5-6 hours away and we've got the 3 day weekend. So far, I know of three girls that I'm probably going to be specifically going with but we're going to try and finalize it tomorrow or the next day. We would have done it tonight, but there was the whole no power thing.  

So, its going pretty well, all things considered. I'm sure its going to get much more intense in terms of the work load, but our nights also end much earlier after tomorrow. We'll be done around 5 or 6, which will give me time to go to the gym and de-stress and then spend time working on my lesson plans and what not. I definitely think its manageable as long as I stay on top of it, which I want to do because I need to be in bed by 10:30 so I can actually get some sleep. 

I might talk to you guys tomorrow, but I'm only going to have about 40 minutes to get back to my room, change, eat dinner, buy my BB King ticket and get to my opening ceremony. I'm not sure what time it will end and I'll have work to do after. Maybe I'll just talk to you on Wednesday.

...btw, Wendy Kopp was amazing and incredibly inspirational, as was the State Sec. of Education, who gave a great speech.

Delta Bound

Ever since I accepted my position with Teach for America, people have given me sad, pitying looks whenever I mentioned going to the Mississippi Delta for the summer. While I had my own reservations about going to a very rural area when I've never spent much time outside of the city, I was sure I'd be fine. Sure, its hot in the Delta. But I can handle heat. Ok, its humid there. But I went to school in DC, a city that was literally built on top of a swamp. Yes, it is very rural. But hey, there are 14,000 people in Cleveland and they need to live somewhere, right? 

So, I mentally prepared myself for a summer similar to DC in weather and somewhat like a movie in terms of the town dynamics. I had this vision in my head, fueled by 22 years of watching films like Sweet Home Alabama, that Cleveland would be some sort of picturesque archetype of small town America. It would have one main street that would have a couple of restaurants, a bar or two and a local general store. Off of the main street, there would be 10 or 12 blocks of houses and a small school. The people would all know each other and wave as they drove past. The town would be small, but I would find it quaint and charming and by the end of my five weeks, I'd have fallen in love with the area. I could not have been more wrong.

The word rural does not accurately describe the town of Cleveland. The word that should be used is isolated. There's nothing here. I mean nothing. Correction, there is a Walmart. Liz and I went this afternoon to get a few things and she was having some kind of panic attack about the next five weeks and being in the middle of nowhere. She grew up on a farm, in the middle of nowhere and she thinks this is bad. And it is more ungodly hot than I could have ever imagined. DC doesn't hold a candle to this place. Between the work, the strict eating schedule and the heat/constant sweating, we're all going to lose 15 lbs. I don't know how people live here with this heat all year.

All these things aside, I'm trying to stay optimistic about the next five weeks. I've very hesitant about the work load, especially after seeing the enormous manual that they handed us at check in today. B.B. King is going to be here next week and we have the opportunity to see him for only $20. Thats definitely something I would never have the chance to do anywhere else. Plus, its only five weeks. I'm going to take it one day at a time, learn as much as I can and I'm sure it will go by much faster than I ever imagined it would. Hopefully I won't have some kind of nervous breakdown before then, because right now I feel like it is a distinct possibility. 

Yes Prep

Yes Prep is a charter high school in Houston, TX that was founded by a TFA alum. In order to graduate from Yes Prep, a student must have been admitted to at least one college or university. 100% of the students the school serves are low-income students who receive free or reduced lunch. Most are first generation college bound. Yes Prep proves that the achievement gap can be closed and that it is being closed in Houston.

Yes Prep Signing Day

Boot Camp

As my days go on, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the world is a lot smaller than we think it is. Today, while waiting on line to interview with a principal, I started talking with a guy who went to UNC Greensboro and was assigned to teach middle school science. He noticed my name tag and said that last summer he was in DC and he stayed a Catholic. Apparently, he worked in DC over the summer and lived in Opus, the dorm I lived in all summer while I was working in DC.  This guy and I lived in the same dorm for an entire summer, even though we didn't go to the same school and now we've both ended up in TFA Charlotte. What are the odds?
Switching gears a bit, my name tag also gets me the constant question of "So are you Catholic? Really? Are you practicing?" And, depending on the person, I'm getting very different results. Some people, I can tell are slightly put off by the idea that I'm Catholic. It's strange because I've never met people who are upset or uncomfortable with the fact that I'm Catholic. Never mind that I went to The Catholic University of America. And the thing is, I'm more of the "Catholic a-la-cart" type of religious. On the flip side, some people who ask me about my religion follow their question with "Well, I'm Catholic and its great to find someone else who is too. My parish priest wanted me to look at CUA." ....Typical.
It's only the end of day 2 and we've already logged more working hours than down time hours. Tonight, on the phone, my dad made a good point. He compared my TFA induction and institute to his OCS boot camp. It's something that you need to be mentally tough to be complete and you need to approach from a "one day at a time" point of view. One day at a time as opposed to six weeks or 42 days.

Don't Be Inspired, Be Committed

The one thing I learned today, more than anything else, is that the next two years are going to be the most challenging of my life. The majority of the first day of induction was spent in sessions where the staff explained everything from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to the objectives of the next six weeks. It was a lot to take in but it was also great to hear about the direct impact TFA has had on the city of Charlotte and to meet so many other people who are passionate about this movement.
From what we've been told today, we as corps members are extremely lucky in Charlotte. The Board of Ed and its superintendent are extremely receptive to the Teach for America program. In many regions around the country, veteran teachers and administrators look at TFA corps members as naive, ambitious and unrealistic in the expectations that they set for students. Here in Charlotte, however, the entire district is aligned with the TFA mission of giving every student the opportunity to attain an excellent education. The number of institutions that are willing to work with corps members here, and the opportunities for success are so high, that it is predicted the achievement gap in Charlotte could potentially be closed within the next 5 years. That is amazing! And when it is coupled with the fact that the corps has only been here for six years, its even more incredible.
Tonight, during out welcoming ceremony, the highest performing principal in the county spoke to us about our commitment to closing the achievement gap. She is the principal at the lowest ranked middle school in the state and has several corps members working for her. Listening to her speech, she brought up a point that I have never heard mentioned when talking about TFA. When you speak with TFA people and other corps members, or you try to explain its mission to friends and family, you find yourself constantly talking about how you're committing two years to working with low income students and bringing them up to level. But tonight, this woman said that there is a very real and distinct difference between being inspired to do something and being committed to doing something. To be inspired, you feel morally obligated to help a situation and do what is asked, when it is asked. To be committed, you are willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve the results you want and you refuse to give in and accept defeat. She challenged us to do some soul searching and make sure that each of us was committed to Teach for America and not inspired by it. It's an interesting theory and definitely something to keep in mind over the next six weeks and the next two years.

Carolina In My Mind

Right now, i'm sitting in my hotel room in Charlotte, trying to figure out how I got here. Figuratively, I mean. Teach for America is something I've talked about abstractly for so long that it's hard for me to realize that it's actually real. It was always something far off in the distance. When I talked about doing Teach for America it was "yea, this summer I have  to go to Charlotte and to Mississippi and then I move there". It was something that was happening later. But now its happening now and not at some later time. And in some ways I feel like the beginning of this, is also the official end of everything in my past. CUA, New Jersey, the person I used to be... its all behind me. I left it at home when I turned off of 5th Street yesterday and I left it in DC when I got on I-395 this morning.

I'm glad i got to spend last night in DC. A few people are still down there so I was able to crash with one of my friends and, even though his a.c. is broken and its 90 degrees (but I'm not complaining haha), we had a good time. Plus we were able to meet up with some other friends of ours. It was strange though be cause we went out and, instead of going to our usual bar and drinking excessively until last call, we went to a different bar, got a table and had 2 or 3 drinks each. We didn't stand around complaining about classes and talking with/about the other people from school. We talked about starting work, and the job market, and loans and car payments. Its amazing how much the last three weeks have started to change us. This morning I drove through CUA because it was on my way to the highway. And even though I was there three weeks ago, I could tell it was different. I came over the Taylor Street bridge and instantly looked up at my bedroom window in Opus. But the lot outside was filled with only a few cars and the street was empty. I drove through campus and no one was around. It wasn't the normal CUA. And it wasn't just the school. I drove up in a new car, filled with the things I needed to go start a new life in North Carolina. I felt like I was having dinner with an old best friend that I'd missed terribly, only to discover we no longer had anything in common. It solidified the reality that I'm no longer a college student. I think it was good that I got to take that drive.

So this morning I got breakfast with two friends and got on the road, with a coffee from the 7-11 by CUA and James Taylor's "Carolina In My Mind" playing on repeat. It took most of the day, but I got to Charlotte with relatively little trouble. I met two girls in the business center who were trying to print copies of their resume and they were both really nice. All three of of were saying the same things. We were convinced we'd show up and everyone would be high speed and that we'd have problems keeping up. Not that I don't think I'm smart. I know I am. But its just that sense of nervousness that you get when you start something so new and unfamiliar. It was reassuring to know that I wasn't the only person who felt that way. And it also reminded me that all of these people are going through the same thing as me. Three weeks ago they were having their own senior weeks and saying goodbye to friends. I think that somewhere in the back of my mind I had convinced myself that I was going to get here and everyone would be completely professional and mature and "adult" all the time and I'd be this strange person that wasn't quite ready for all the changes that were taking place. After talking with these girls though, it seems to me that they have the exact same outlook as me on this whole thing. I like that. Maybe I don't need to meet this with as many mixed emotions as I have been planning on. 

Flash Forward

I'm not sure why I thought this, but I was convinced that after graduation I would have time to relax and get things taken care of before leaving for Charlotte on June 5th. Boy, was I wrong! The past 10 days have been a complete whirlwind. I leased a new car, went through all the cloths I own, filled out my application for the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools and fought off a few days worth of minor depression over saying goodbye to my friends (which was much harder to do than I thought it would be). And now I'm halfway through my trip home and it seems like its flying by.
Thursday I'm going down the shore with four of my friends for Memorial Day weekend and on Saturday I have my graduation party. I think its going to be a really great time. I mean, I know my friends and I will have fun, especially since we dont always get to see each other and hang out. Hopefully my family isn't too crazy at the party and it goes smoothly. My mom may have some kind a meltdown if it doesn't. The last week is going to be filled with shopping for work clothes and packing before I leave next Saturday. On the plus side, I think I'm going to spend Saturday night in DC, which means I can hang out with some of my friends in the area and maybe get teh chance to say a proper goodbye to Times (since the police ruined my farewell during senior week).
Tonight I got a peak into what the next two years of my life are going to consist of, by way of my sister's persuasive essay. Her teacher ripped it apart, which usually doesn't happen, and she asked me to take a look at it. So I spent two hours tonight revising my sister's essay, making suggestions, re-writing paragraphs and finding sources for her to reference. It was exhilarating haha. It makes me look forward to the next two years as a high school English teacher. Its going to be so enjoyable.

MMX

Its winding down to the end here at Catholic University and I'm meeting it with mixed emotions. This past week has been a blur. But a good blur. We finished with senior week yesterday and spent today packing. Senior week was a week long event that we bought tickets to. It included a picnic, baseball game, casino night, movies on the mall and a dinner cruise on the Potomac. Add in the unofficial after parties and this week has flown by. I'm starting to realize that most schools, strangely enough, do not do senior week. I feel bad for those people. Because, for me at least, senior week has been an awesome and completely unique opportunity to spend a week with the entire senior class, reminiscing and making new memories, without the distraction of classes, finals or underclassmen (not to sound pretentious). It has been a final bonding experience for us and I know without hesitation that we've had some of our best times this week. I'm sure its because we're high on life, living without a care in the world and feel like we're invincible.
It probably also has to do with the fact that none of us is really willing to acknowledge the fact that after Saturday.... most of us may never see each other again. Sure, we'll keep in touch with and see out close group of friends, but what about the people on the fringes of our close groups? The people you don't hang out with every weekend but that you've had classes with for years and who share your major. Those are the people that we're all going to lose touch with. This sense of family and community that we have will be gone. The safety net that we've been living in for the past four years is going to disappear and, while we experience this to a certain extent in high school, college graduation is the complete ending of a chapter of our lives. I still see my high school friends around town and we had the summer to prepare and say goodbye. That's not the case here. Come Sunday morning, I'm packing up my car, driving over the Taylor Street bridge and when CUA disappears from my rear view mirror.... its over. I'm not coming back and I know I haven't fully processed it yet.
And I don't want to sound depressing. Graduation is beyond exciting. I'm thrilled with the prospect of it all. It's what we've spent four years working towards. To be out on the basilica mall on Saturday and have my diploma handed to me, with all my friends right beside me, will be one of the best feelings in the world. It just means a chapter of my life is ending. It's bittersweet.
The end of one chapter, though, brings about the start of another. I'm anxious and excited to start Teach for America, but I have my hesitations. I find myself sitting around questioning if I have what it takes to move to a new city I don't know, with people I don't know and start something so completely new and foreign. Then I remember that I've already done that--four years ago when I moved to DC and started college with 800 strangers. And now those strangers are my best fiends... my family and I'm clinging desperately to any little piece of normalcy in a vain attempt to try and reassure myself that it'll all be alright. And while I'm sure, in time, I will feel the same way about Charlotte and my Teach for America corps members, right now I'm just trying to keep two feet planted firmly on the ground and take everything that life is throwing at me. Hopefully, when its all said and done, I'm still standing.
For all the complaining I do about this school (and we all do a fair amount of it), it's given me some great things. Amazing friends, the confidence to go do what I know I'm supposed to be doing, the ability to know what a real sense of community and belonging feels like and the hope that I will be able to find that again where I'm going. Do I want this to end? No. But do I look back on the last four years and know that they've shown me how to do things I never thought I could? Yes.

End of Year Dash

So right now it is 3:20 in the morning and I'm sitting in my school's 24-hour computer lab, which is in no way empty. I just polished off a redbull and the line "someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny" from Bruce's Rosalita just played in my headphones. Incidently, that was also my senior quote when I was in high school. And, being from New Jersey, I was not the only one in my class of 66 girls to quote Bruce (there are a few stereotypes we Garden Staters actually meet).
I guess its althogether fitting that this song is playing now. I'm stuck writing paper number three, during all-nighter number three of the week. And I've still got two papers standing inbetween me and my final Luaupalooza on Friday afternoon. As stressful as the paper deadlines are, its not anything I haven't faced before. Last spring I wrote a 15 page (semester long) paper on the trial of the soldiers involved in the Boston Masacre, worth 50% of my grade, in one night. At 5 a.m. I was flipping through print outs of a scan of John Adam's original closing argument notes. It was not pretty. But I digress...
I think what has me stressed out is the other stuff I have to do. I have to apply to UNC-Charlotte and fill out the FAFSA by Friday, get an FBI background check, get fingerprinted, make a doctor's appointment and actually apply to work in the Charlotte-Mecklenberg School District. Not all of that has to be done this week, but it needs to be done really soon. And graduation is looming on the not-so-distant horizon.
I keep saying I'm ready to graduate and, in a lot of ways I am. You get to a point where you know you've outgrown a place. These days I walk around campus on my way to and from class and I look at the people walking around me. Not only do I not know most of them, but they all look like they belong in the back of my sister's junior history class. That's how I know its time to gradduate. But at the same time, I'm comfortable here. I've spent four years becoming friends with a lot of these people and we're all really close. This Sunday I went to a senior history major reception put on by the department and we all stood there talking about how we want to go out as a group one more time before graduation. The department only has about 40 seniors in it, so we're all really close and have been through a lot together. After that, I had my end of the year banquet for APO.... my last APO banquet. We were given our APO cords for gradduation and they were the first set any of us have received. Talk about reality hitting you in the face. It's all very bittersweet.
I know this will all be done in the next two and a half weeks and soon enough I'll be in Mississippi training and making tons of new friends and in Charlotte actually getting to do what I've been planning for for over a year now. And that is beyond exciting.
I may not be quite that ready to leave college behind, but I know that the next two years are going to be great and I'll eventually come to accept that it was all for the best. So maybe, in the end, I got it right four years ago. Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny....

The Fighting Okra

Let me first begin with a post I received on my facebook wall from my roommate about an hour ago. It reads:

 Kaitlyn Boyle, I am very sorry that I gave you such a hard time about being a Fighting Okra. Looks like I will be one too.

Now, this would be the same roommate from small town PA, who has spent the greater part of this last semester harassing me about having to spend the summer at Delta State University in Cleavland, MS. But, as of yesterday, she'll be spending the summer there too. So there! HAH!

She was accepted into Teach for America's South Louisiana Corps to teach high school science. When she told me this, I first asked if she's going to buy a riverboat. She said no. I then asked her if she was going to visit Captain Ted, our really awesome swamp tour guide from spring break. She said yes. So, in my book, its all good. 

It'll definitely be great to be at institute together because we'll be able to hang out a bit on the weekends (aka, I'm stealing yo car!!). Plus, we'll each make friends in our own corps that we can introduce the other too so I could see both of us getting to know people that we may not have otherwise gotten to meet because we're in different regions. Definitely a good thing. 

In other news, I have to apply to UNC-Charlotte by the end of next week. I also have to take the GRE by the end of May. And I've got tone more information to go through for Teach for America. And no time to go through it. With 10 days and 6 major papers left (plus 4 finals), its going to be pretty insane from now until... I'm not sure when. Maybe things will slow down by Christmas. If I'm lucky. 

One Final Hurdle

Since being accepted to Teach for America, I've had this strange feeling that it was all too good to be true. I mean, things never work out this well. It was the first and only job I applied to. I wasn't ever really convinced I'd be accepted. In fact, for a short time after I was first excepted I was convinced  that some kind of mistake had been made. How could I have been selected from the more than 46,000 qualified people who applied? But, if only by the grace of God, I was. To date, I'm still the only one of my friends with a job secured for after graduation (minus one who is also doing TFA).
I think to justify my own trepidations about being accepted, I've recently taken to thinking and saying, "I was accepted into Teach for America, but first I have to pass the Praxis exam". Clearly, this would be the part that completely derailed the too-good-to-be-true series of events I had been experiencing. It seemed like the cards were stocked against me on this test from day one. Case in point:

1. History major, taking the high school English content and teaching styles tests. my mom basically said she thought I was going to fail. Thanks, mom.
2. I haven't taken a real English class since my freshman year of college and even the validity of that class is debatable because the prof was terrible.
3. the test was being given on the Saturday of my spring break. it's pretty hard to study when you're on vacation.
4. there were no testing sites available in DC, meaning I had to drive home to New Jersey to take the test after getting into DC at midnight the night before and was almost crushed by a poorly driven 18-wheeler around exit 12 on the NJ Turnpike
5. on the day of the test, New Jersey experienced what can only be described as a mini-hurricane. it was the snowpocalypse of rain.

So, put together all of these "signs" and I was fairly convinced I was doomed. The perfect plan would fall apart and I'd end up on the unemployment line with all my other friends. But hey, at least I wouldn't be kicked off my parent's insurance. I do have great insurance from my mom being a public school teacher.
Despite all this, I tried to buckle down and study. The content knowledge seemed to be very much like the SAT English, which I did very well on. Sparknotes provided immensely useful information for studying the books needed for pedagogy. And, against all odds, I found the balcony of my hotel room in the French Quarter to be an excellent place to study. Our flight back was delayed by 2 hours but the 18-wheeler didn't crush my car (poor Consuela couldn't have survived). In the end, I took the test and thought it went fairly well. I figured that I would probably fail by a point or two but that, on the second try I'd be able to pick up the needed score.
Well, I was wrong. I got my results today and I PASSED!!!! On my first try. The Praxis is an exam that most people either pass or fail by a margin of one to two points. But me? I passed with 10 points to spare. No biggie. I'm just that awesome. There are no longer any obstacles standing between me and Teach for America (except for a presentation, a book review, 5 major papers and 4 final exams). Then I'm home free. It's on to graduation, three weeks of vacation and off to Institute.
According to my dad, I can now start to think about Vanderbilt Law, which is his new kick. He wants me to go to Vanderbilt and be a lawyer. He's always wanted me to be a lawyer. He says I used to argue my way out of punishments and effectively deflect blame as a small child. I think I just had him wrapped around my finger (and I have the "Pretty, Pretty Princess" pictures to prove it). I've explained many times now that law school isn't something I ever entirely crossed off my list. Its just something I know isn't right for me now. I've always thought I'd end up there eventually. Maybe after Teach for America. I'd say there's a distinct possibility of that happening. Although, I don't know about Vanderbilt. It's one of the most expensive law schools in the country. I could claim North Carolina residency and go to UNC-Chapel Hill Law for a complete, three year total cost of what one year at Vandy would run me. Besides, as my dad pointed out after I told him this, it would give my family a real justifiable reason to hate Duke and he could get a "Carolina Dad" t-shirt, which he would love. But all of that's too far into the future for me to be worrying about now. I should probably focus on those papers and finals and graduation and Teach for America before I start thinking about what I may be doing from 24-27. Thats much too far away.

Recap

I've been meaning to write this for the past week. Rehash my trip in a bit more detail. But, like this entire year, time seems to be getting away from me and before I knew it, it was already Sunday. So now, without further ado, my experience in North Carolina...
THURSDAY: Despite getting all four of my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday afternoon, I felt perfectly fine. The dentist gave me a prescription for 15 vicodin for after the novocain wore off but I just took two advil and went on with my life. I got up, tried to go to the DMV to renew my registration (which was an epic fail because the car is registered in my dad's name and not mine), got into a mini-fight with my grandmother because she was mad at my dad for not giving me money (even though I didn't need money and she insisted I couldn't drive anywhere without cash) and peaced out of Bayonne. Got back to DC around four, repacked clothes for a warmer climate and showered. Then I got to chill until 10:15 when my parents finally got to school and picked me up. We drove another 45 minutes south and stayed in some town near Fredricksburg. Of course we got the room on the top floor of the hotel. Thats did wonders for my crippling fear of heights.
FRIDAY: Because my dad is a slow driver, we had to get up and out of the hotel early if we had any chance of making it to Charlotte at a reasonable point in the afternoon. We left around 10 and didn't get to Charlotte until late afternoon. In total, we spent about 8 hours in the car that day for a trip that would normally take about 5-5 1/2 hours... my dad does not drive that fast.
We stopped to get burgers at one point in Southern VA, maybe we were into NC at that point. Let me just say, I am not a fan of Southern country living. Southern city living seems great. But the country.... they don't move at any kind of normal pace. I don't want to judgmental, but if you picture a stereotypical Southern country guy or girl or kids, those are the people we saw in this Wendys. I'd never been happier to have grown up in the North and in a city.
Finally, around four, we rolled into Charlotte. We were staying at the Embassy Suites, but I was fairly convinced we were at The Mirage when we first walked in. Just look at the evidence. The first is our hotel. The second is the Mirage.
    
Add in the blazingly hot weather (90 and humid) and I thought I'd ended up in the wrong state. Not that ending up in Vegas is ever a bad thing, but you get my point.
We decided to go to Uptown for dinner. Its the "downtown" center of city where then have their basketball arena, bars, restaurants, the different bank headquarters and basically a lot of things going on. It reminded me of Chinatown in DC. After driving around for a bit and scoping out the area, I insisted we park and get dinner because I was beginning to weigh the pros and cons of eating my own finger. Leave it to my dad, but he found one of the two Irish pubs located in Uptown and thats where we ate.
The entire time we were in Uptown (and I'm talking the entire time), my mom made comments about how everyone was dressed up. "I mean I just can't get over it. Every other woman I see is either in a dress or a stylish top and heels. Even the guys are all in dress shirts and dressed up. Kaitlyn, you're just going to have to be dressed up at all times down here." She failed to recognize that it was 9:30 on a Friday and people were dressed up to go bar hopping and clubbing for the night. No one was any more dressed up than the people in DC but I let her have her mini-rant.
SATURDAY: For some reason, my mother felt it was necessary to take not one, but two tours of Charlotte. So we took a history tour in the morning and got to see most of the sites in the city, including but not limited to  a club where Frank Sinatra and Elvis once played, the Duke family estate (gag) and a cemetery of Confederate soldiers, one of which was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. I really better start becoming interested in the Civil War. It is by no means my favorite era of American history, ranking somewhere between Manifest Destiny and the Industrial Revolution. But the South is all about the War of Northern Aggression and still believes the Confederacy will rise again, as is evident in VA governor Bob McDonnell declaring April to be "Confederate History Month". What is our world coming to?

After our tour we went to lunch at this AMAAAZING burger place called "Big Daddy's Burger Bar". For anyone who is looking to visit Charlotte, I seriously recommend it. I had fried pickles for the first time. That was definitely an experience. Not sure what I was expecting because they're totally a Southern thing that we do not partake of in New Jersey, but they were really good. Definitely worth trying if you ever get the chance. We also got to look at a potential neighborhood to live in called Dilworth. Its got a mix of young 20-somethings living in low-rise apartments that have pools and gyms and lounges and of late 20s/early 30s people who are recently married and buy really cute houses. So I'm definitely a fan of the area.
After lunch we went on our second tour of the day-- a "relocation tour" billed towards people who are moving to Charlotte. It points out the different neighborhoods and tells you about the types of people that live in each area. Honestly, my dad and I thought it sounded like a repackaging of the tour we took in the morning, but we humored my mom. It made her happy.

We went to eat dinner at this sports bar/grill called the Blackfinn in City Center/Uptown because the Final Four games were on. As we expected, every place was packed because Duke was playing that night and, like it or not, we were in North Carolina where many a Duke fan can be found. For the record, let me state my complete and utter hatred of Duke with every fiber of my being. I was raised a Red Storm fan in the days of head coach Mike Jarvis, when the team routinely made the NCAA tournament and Big East championship.  Growing up with a hatred of Duke, Syracuse and UConn, I attended the Lou Carnesecca basketball camp on St. John's campus and had an autographed Jayson Williams poster hanging in my room. To this day, my mom will tell you that one of the best birthday presents she ever got was when my dad took her to the St. John's-Duke game at the Garden (Madison Square, that is) and they somehow ended up sitting in the Duke fan's section. The Red Storm made a huge comeback late in the second half and the section, including one annoying man who had been banging a metal cup most of the game, were stunned into silence. It goes without saying that come this fall, I will be coming down on the UNC side of the rivalry that splits the state.
But I digress. We went to eat at the Blackfinn where, sitting directly across the room, with his back to us, was a man who looked exactly like my father. This isn't really unusual for me because I see people who look exactly like my dad wherever I go. New Orleans? Saw him down by the streetcars along the banks of the Mississippi. Virginia? Saw him at Costco. Inside the District? There have been numerous sightings. What was really interesting to me was the guy sitting across the table from the guy who looked like my dad. With him I'm pretty sure I was seeing through a rift in the space-time continuum to a future version of my friend Mike. This guy was him in like 15/20 years. I contemplated taking a creepy stalker pic with my blackberry from my seat but that would require me explaining to my parents what exactly I was doing. So I chose not to do that.
After spending the entire meal trying not to stare at the guy who looked like Mike, and watching Baylor win and the first half of the Duke game, my parents decided they were tired and wanted to go back to the hotel and go to bed. And thats what we did. It was 10:00. womp -___-
SUNDAY: Happy Easter! My dad was fairly convinced that he saw the face of Jesus in the off-the-cuff drawing of North and South Carolina that I had done to illustrate to my mother where exactly we were in the state. When my mom saw it, she decided it was next Shroud of Turin and took the piece of paper with her when we left the hotel. We spent the entire day driving. Like Thursday/Friday, my dad drove slow and it took us the entire day to get back to DC. Although we did stop to eat at the Cracker Barrel at one point and I proceeded to kick ass on that little triangle peg game that they have on the table. According to the instructions printed on the triangle, I'm a genius. Like I really needed confirmation of that.

All things considered, I think this is a fairly accurate summary/description of my trip to Charlotte. I'll leave you now with a few highlights of what I learned on this trip:
1. driving slow drags out trips to make them much longer than they need to be
2. don't stop at fast food places in the boonies unless you want to meet scary, country versions of yourself
3. spending Friday and Saturday night with your parents is NOT exciting or advisable
4. taking a side in the UNC-Duke debate alienates you from half the state
5. demand a pool and a fitness center wherever you live. It is affordable!
6. if you don't want to be labeled a "northern yankee" start speaking slowly and possibly throw in a bit of a drawl
7. people in the South love to deep fry everything. e.g. fried pickles

The Queen City

My parents and I are in Charlotte over break to scope out the city and check out where things are. We got here this afternoon and, let me say, I LOVE this city!!!! It's beautiful and cool and clean and affordable and not too big. Even the poor, more decrepit areas that we drove through (when my dad got lost) were not that bad. That's not to say that we saw the worst parts of town, but its definitely a good indication or life down here.
My dad decided to tell me today that he has a friend he used to work with who moved down here a year ago. She and her husband lease a townhouse with three bedrooms and 2.5 baths in a really nice area of town that they only pay $1000/month for. At the end of June they're buying a house and moving there and said I could take over their lease if I get a roommate and want to have it. Its a very Pentagon City-ish area about a 10 minute drive from the heart of the city. So, this could make my life infinitely less stressful.
We're spending the day around the city tomorrow and taking some "relocation tour" for people who are looking to move to Charlotte. I think it sounds like a bit of a scamy way to re-market a city tour, but whatever. It'll make my mom happy. At least we'll get to see the different neighborhoods.
Overall I think I'm really going to like living here. It seems like such a great city.

Post-Praxis

After a pretty relaxing spring break week in New Orleans (where we got many mardi gras beads and souvenir daiquiri cups) we experienced the HELL that was a layover in Memphis. Any notions I had of driving up there from Delta for 4th of July weekend have been completely forgotten. As my roommate kept saying, "its the hateful city in the hateful state". Without getting into too much detail and making myself mad again, it basically boils down to the fact that people in Memphis cannot multi-task and clearly have issues getting their planes off on time. We should have gotten into BWI at 10:30 and we didn't land until 12:40. So after getting back to campus and falling asleep around 2 am, I got up at 8, repacked warmer clothes, got my things together and was out the door by 10. Got into Bayonne around 1:30, which was pretty good time considering the rain and the fact that I was nearly killed by an 18 wheeler who decided to switch into the lane I was moving into with no hint of a blinker. Where is one of those "how's my driving?" bumper stickers when you need one?
Saturday I got up early and drove over to Prep to take the Praxis Exam. I walk into the cafeteria, which is where everyone had to assemble, and sitting at the table next to mine is my friend Bridget from CUA who was in took the same history senior thesis section as me last semester. She was taking the exact same test as me because she's applying to Teach NOLA (pretty ironic, since I was just there this week). So we both took the content knowledge section of the exam. I had to take the pedagogy, but apparently no one else did because I was the only one who was there for that one.
I thought the content knowledge section went really well. I've always bee fairly good at reading comprehension standardized tests. A few questions were harder, like the ones on poetry or identifying the author who wrote a specific passage. Overall, I think I did well on it. I guess we'll have to wait and see though.
The pedagogy section was the one I was most concerned about and focused my energies on studying for. I had to pick a book from a list of eight of nine, list two literary features (theme, symbols, type of work), how students could have trouble understanding these features and what I would do to help them better understand them. Now, if a book, just one book, that I had read and knew really well was be on there I'd be golden. But there was no guarantee of that. In fact, there was a good chance that I wouldn't have read any of the books they offered. Apparently the gods liked me on Saturday, though. Because three of the books I knew best (The Diary of Anne Frank, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Crucible) were on there. I ended up picking The Crucible because I could talk about how ninth graders probably weren't familiar with McCarthyism and may not fully understand what an allegory is. God knows I know all about Communists and Nazis and hate all of them equally. So I could write about them.
Overall, I think the test went as well as it possibly could have. Now, we just have to wait and see if I passed. Hopefully I won't have to take the test again because my hand cramped up and hurt for 45 minutes after I was done. I don't think I could handle doing that again.

Culture Shock

In exactly three months and one week, I have to be in Charlotte for Orientation. A week later, I have to drive to Cleveland, Mississippi for my five week summer institute. For those who don't know, Cleveland, MS is a town consisting of approximately 4,000 homes and 13,000 residents waaaaay up in the northwest corner of the state, by the Arkansas and Tennessee boarders. The closest big city is Memphis, which is over three hours away. This is where I'm spending the vast majority of my summer.
Now, being from northern New Jersey and growing up about 10 minutes outside of New York City, I'm clearly in for some kind of culture shock. I'll make no secret of the fact that I'm extremely hesitant to spend my summer in the backwoods, out in the sticks of rural Mississippi. A Northerner and New Jersey native (with all the attitude and outlook that being from the tri-state area brings) heading down to Southern, small town America. Talk about a fish out of water.
Naturally, my roommate is taking great pleasure in this inevitability. She finds the whole thing hysterical and can't wait for me to be metaphorically bitch slapped by rural living. It probably has to do with her growing up in the middle of nowhere and knowing exactly what I'm in for. Well, she just forwarded me this link that she found on www.teachfor.us. It's a website for TFA members to set up and keep blogs. Really cool idea, although I enjoy blogspot more. Here is the link I received. Let me just say, it does not help to ease my trepidations at all.
God help me.....

http://rachelplate.teachfor.us/category/institute/

Guided Insanity

It's midterms week here at Catholic. You would think after four years and seven semesters we would be used to this. Like every other year, though, the panic has set in. And the snowpocalypse didn't help things. The assignments that would have been spreed over last week, this and next week have been jammed into the next two. That means this week I have three papers due (Mon, Tues and Thurs) and next week I've got three midterms (Mon, Tues and Thurs) and a take home being handed out on Wednesday thats due the week we get back. Really, who assigns work to be due when we get back from spring break?!?! Add the stress of the Praxis coming up in three weeks, and I'm sitting at my desk, silently freaking out.
Let's not forget the outside factors that we're all freaking out about. Graduation. The fast approaching end to college. As ready as I am for it to be over, I've become closer with some friends this past year and I wish we had another year to all be together. Never mind that my mom called me the other day to tell me she's booked my graduation party for Saturday of Memorial Day. She thought I'd want to know so I can invite my friends. Wait, let them get out their planners THREE MONTHS EARLY!
Everything's going to be fine though. I've got my John Mayer collection on repeat, I've got a soda and very little need for sleep. Besides... two weeks from now I'll be in New Orleans, sitting at Pat O'briens on Bourbon Street, sipping a hurricane. That's what I have to keep reminding myself.
Next year I'm going to remember this when I'm teaching. I'll make sure to try and find out what my student's schedules are like when assigning projects. And no homework over vacation, either. For them, or me.

Praxis II: English Content Knowledge and Pedagogy

I registered to take the Praxis exam two days ago. It is the national teacher certification test and I have to pass the content knowledge and pedagogy (teaching styles) portions in order to be certified to teach in North Carolina. The test is being offered on March 13th, which is the Saturday that our spring break ends. So, instead of going to Mexico for eight days, we are going to New Orleans for five days. Saturday the 6th to Thursday the 11th. It's going to be a good time because we have a hotel one block down from Bourbon Street and two blocks from Jackson Square. There will be copious amounts of time spent in Pat O'Brien's drinking Hurricanes.
I have to go home to New Jersey to take the test. It was being offered in DC, but by the time I registered all the spots were filled. Instead of driving 45 minutes to some random place in Maryland (when I have to be there at 7:30) I'm just going to go home at take it 5 minute's away at my high school's brother school. Prep tends to offer all standardized tests. I took the SAT there twice.
Washington, DC was sucker punched with two blizzards in four days this week. We had off from class for six days and the city is still at a pretty solid stand still. Stores have only just started to reopen and the Metro has begun to resume above ground service, which means CUA students are no longer trapped on campus. Over the past six days, I probably should have started studying for the test but I didn't get too much done. For some reason, I don't think its that big of a deal because I think I'll pass the test the first time. As long as that happens, it doesn't matter if I get all the questions right or one more than is necessary to pass. But I think I'll do better than passing by one question.
In other news, I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!!!! They're amazingly patriotic and, as usual, the US is going to dominate. I will be saving every extra dime I make over the next two years during Teach for America and will be attending London 2012. I desperately need to go to the Olympics.

Matriculation

The other day I formally accepted the offer to join Teach for America. Once I did that, I was given a flood of more information on the pre-institute work and my official TFA email address. I was asked to submit my address where all of my information would be sent to and to answer the question "why are you joining Teach for America?" My response, you ask?

"By joining Teach for America, I have the ability to change the lives of children living in low-income communities who, in many cases, may not have been given the opportunity to succeed."

Thought it was a pretty good response. In addition to that, I gained access to tfanet.org, which is this awesome website with resources uploaded from other TFA Corps members. They have lesson plans, message boards, career counseling and a host of other things that members can make use of. I'm looking forward to having time to completely go through the site and see everything that they have to offer.
Later in the spring I'll be receiving more information about my pre-institute work, which includes school observations and readings. They estimate that it will equate to about 30 hours of work to be completed over the course of the spring. Hopefully the hours that I already do for Jumpstart can count towards my classroom observation hours. Otherwise, I'll have to schedule even more time into my day. 

What I need to start worrying about now, though, is the Praxis exam. To become a certified teacher I have to pass the Praxis II: English exam. It consists of two parts--content knowledge and pedagogy (teaching styles). I'm not so much concerned about the content knowledge as I am about the pedagogy section. I haven't taken any education classes, which means I'm kind of taking a shot in the dark on this part. I'm going to need to spend a serious amount of time studying over the next 6 weeks. The exam is Saturday, March 13 and that is also the day I was supposed to get back from spring break. My roommate was really understanding, though, and we've changed our schedule so that we'll be back in DC on Thursday night. That will give me all day on Friday to relax/recover and review for the test. We're going to New Orleans for break and we've been there before so that means we can pick and choose what we want to go see. It also means I can take it easy and maybe get some reviewing in at some point in the week. After all, what better place is there to study than on the balcony of your hotel in the middle of the French Quarter, one block from Bourbon Street? I certainly can't think of any.

Officially accepting the TFA offer has kind of made this all a little more real than it already was. I'm beyond excited, because this is something I really wanted and worked hard to get. But now comes the time when I need to start saving for an apartment, furniture and a new car (which my parents have already told me I need to buy/lease). They have suggested I lease a new Honda Civic, but I would rather buy a 2008 or 2009 Ford Escape, which is what I think I will do. I'm hesitant about having to take on all of these different things. Realistically, I know I'll be able to handle them, but it is still slightly intimidating. 

One of my friends is applying to the next TFA deadline and, by chance, was going to list Charlotte as her number 2 or 3 choice of places. If she gets it accepted to the Charlotte Corps then we've already decided we're going to get an apartment together. It would make life infinitely less stressful because I know we'd get along really well and she's got a very good chance of being accepted. So (for now) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she's accepted to Charlotte and I don't have to find someone to live with in 5 weeks over the summer. I have no doubt I could do it, but it would certainly help to lower my stress level a bit. And that is definitely a good thing. 

Still, I know this is all going to be a great experience (even when it is a little terrifying and intimidating). 

It Starts With a Choice

A week ago, I was offered a position in Teach for America's 2010 Charlotte Corps to teach high school English in an under performing school. The realization that I  had been accepted to the program, after so much planning and hoping, was exhilarating. There was so much to process! From the fact that I will be moving to a city that I have never visited, to the striking reality that graduation is in just over three months--it has been exciting and overwhelming at the same time.
I am the first of my friends to have a definite job lined up for after graduation. While reading in the news the other day that 10% of Americans are currently unemployed, it was comforting to know that I will not be moving home after graduation, to live in my bedroom and work part-time at my uncle's liquor store (although I'm sure I could make manager by 30). At  the same time, however, the idea of the real world is more than a little terrifying. Before being accepted into Teach for America, I could sit around with friends and talk about how we were going to move to Europe and live in the streets of Paris for a year, or go on a cross-country road trip and survive on what little savings we have. Now, I'm faced with the prospect of moving to a city I have never seen, where I don't know anyone. I have to get an apartment, buy a new car, furnish said apartment and acclimate myself to a completely new life, all while starting a brand new job in a career I have not necessarily trained for.
The feeling I have is similar to the one I felt in the spring of my senior year of high school. As the universal deadline of May 1 approached, I found myself increasingly uneasy about selecting the college I would spend the next four years at. At the last moment I made my decision--The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. I would be a politics major and I had dreams of one day being a member of the White House Press Corps (I was a little naive and idealistic). In August my parents dropped me off and I was left in a new city to embark on an experience that, no matter where I went, was bound to change me. Four years later I'm not where I envisioned myself being. I switched my major to history in my sophomore year and picked up a double minor in politics and media. There have been countless times where I have questioned whether or not this school was the right choice for me and, on more than one occasion, I have thought about what it would have been like if I had chosen another university. But I've made some of the best friends I could have hoped for, I've had fun and I think I'm a better person now than I was when I arrived as a nervous, shy, 18 year old on that blazingly hot day in late August 2006. And if those three things are true, than I have to believe that I have made the right choices and that they have delivered me to this point for a reason. This is the thought that comforts me. In the end, as nervous as I am about moving to a new city and starting a new life, I know that I wouldn't be able to make this decision if I hadn't made the correct choices earlier. I've always been able to choose what was best for me, and I believe this is the best thing now.
Last year, several of my friends studied abroad throughout Europe. While they were gone, they kept blogs that helped everyone back here at CUA stay in touch with them and follow what they were doing in their respective countries. I was inspired by this and have decided that over the next two years, while doing Teach for America, I am going to keep a blog. Next year, my friends will be scattered around the country (from Boston to DC, Texas to California and abroad). As much as I would like to talk to them all on a daily basis, like I do now, I know that won't always be possible. This blog, then, will let me keep them up to date with what I'm doing in Charlotte. To anyone else who happens to find this on the internet, I hope they find it useful in understanding Teach for America, how it functions and how it has an impact on not only the students, but also the teachers.