Accepted

After three long months of stressful applications, recommendations, interviews and late nights awake worrying, I've done it! I've reached the end of it all, and I couldn't be happier with the results of my hard work.


On August 29th, 2011, I will welcome my first students into my sparkly biology classroom in Baltimore, Maryland. Yes, it will be sparkly.


I'm afraid my teaching won't be sparkly for the first few months/semesters/years. There's no way KU's School of Ed has prepared me for what I'm going to face in the schools of B'more (I'm trying to do the cool abbreviations already). At the same time, I'm not scared, like it seems some think I should be. I'm confident that I can handle it; my uneasiness comes when I think about effective lesson planning and differentiation, not relating to the kids. I've pursued this career BECAUSE of the kind of students I'm going to have in Baltimore. I can't think of another environment I'd rather work in.


I don't know what to think about the teaching biology part just yet. I know I can do it, but there are tests to pass and completely new lesson plans to dream up between now and then. Really though, cutting up frogs and making models of cells sounds like a lot more fun than dissecting Shakespeare and writing haiku poems any day. Honestly, I've been conflicted about teaching English for the last few months. I think I love reading and literature too much to force feed it to students who don't want to love it like I do. Hopefully science can be something we all can love.


I'm so grateful for everyone who has helped me get here. I would have never applied for TFA if I hadn't met and worked with the people I did on my Alternative Break in Chicago, and I would not have survived the stress of the last three months without my support systems in Lawrence and Mulvane. Thank you ALL, and I look forward to sharing my stories with you throughout the next two years!