13 days!

As the number of days left between me and Baltimore are drastically decreasing, my stress levels are significantly increasing. How will all of my clothes fit into my suitcase? Do I really need all of things? Should I buy sheets here or wait until I get there? Where will I live when I get there? What AM I doing?


So it's easier to break it down into tiny steps. My focus right now is on Saturday: the Biology Content Praxis II exam. I'm finally feeling comfortable about the exam. My practice test scores have gone from 65% to 85% over the last six weeks, and I only need about a 70% to pass the test. I can DO this! (but I could still use your thoughts when Saturday rolls around. I am, after all, still an English major at heart). 


When that's done (and I've finished cleaning my apartment in Lawrence), it will be time to focus on the pre-work I need to get done for Induction and Institute. It's a hefty amount, probably about 35 hours worth, but it shouldn't be a problem. I think (I haven't exactly looked at it yet) that it's mostly focused around the pedagogy of the job, and since I majored in education, this shouldn't be as big of a stretch as biology has been. 


I'm very excited for Institute. I've received lots of information in the last week about what will happen when I get there, including interviewing with district principals and dinners with alumni and current corps members. I've applied for the Johns Hopkins School of Education. I've sent in every single piece of required paperwork. I've printed every informational piece of paper I've come across and organized them in a three-ring binder... that may not have been necessary, but I feel better after doing it. I'm reading about Inductions that have started in other regions and can't wait to share my experiences with others as well.

I can do this. I'm ready. Now I just have to wait.

What's next?

There are 8,000,000 steps between me and Baltimore, and only about a month to take them all. Between trying to graduate, pre-work for Institute, preparing to move, and learning a couple years' worth of biology... it's a little overwhelming. 


How am I prepping for the move? By watching The Wire, of course. I've picked out the neighborhood I want to live in; I'm dying to move into a colorful row house in Charles Village. I bought a gallon of paint to get my room back to its standard drab. I've also packed about 200 of my books into boxes. That's as far as I've gotten.


I love studying biology. I'm still learning about cell processes; these things are amazing! I've never spent so much time learning about how living things work, and I'm totally geeking out about how interesting it is. Most of it is stuff I've learned before, and it's a been a crash course review to cram it all in my head before June 11th (test day!). 


I'll go to Baltimore for the first time in my life when I move there on June 21st. I've already done all of the paperwork to get there--fingerprinted, TB-tested, FBI background-checked...  All for a week in Baltimore, a month in Philadelphia, then back to Baltimore to get ready for school. I won't be back in Kansas until the first major holiday I can make it back for. I'm reminded today of what the toughest part will... being so far away from my mom. My mom's my best friend.


Don't want to think about that just yet.

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!