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.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, May 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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....
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....
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
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.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
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
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 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.
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
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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.
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.
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