Over the years, when I first wanted to do TFA, I remember being incredibly curious about the socialization and learning process of incoming TFA teachers. I heard a lot of things in the news (most of which were rather ill-informed) and read personal testimonials, which mainly focused on day-to-day in-the-classroom experiences. This is why I’m…

Time has been weird over the past few weeks. Stretched out til it’s raw, then hurriedly knit back together again, except now there are knots and broken parts. Loose threads everywhere. those damn loose threads. My last ten days of college were a mixture of senior events, sentimental goodbyes, rushed thank-you notes, rushed packing, &…

Today I had the fortune and opportunity to visit my new school for an afternoon of in-classroom observations. In addition to meeting some of the teachers with whom I’ll eventually teach, I also got to meet the principal and one of the guidance counselors. I want to be very careful when writing about all of…

In the days since my “panic” post, so many life changes have been happening. some are intentional, deliberate things I’ve done to make myself more prepared for what lies ahead. other things have just kind of fallen into my lap. together they have combined to give me more peace and calm as I approach the…

In the spirit of honesty, openness, and real talk, I’ll tell you straight out: I’m panicking. Okay. Let’s back up.   The past few weeks and months have been an odd mix of saying goodbye to things I was involved in and preparing to say goodbye to the people who mean the most to me.…

In less than two days, I’ll be on my way to Louisiana, leading an Alternative Spring Break trip to an elementary school in a very low-income rural area. My co-site-leader and I purposely picked a group of student participants from our university who have varying levels of engagement with volunteering/community service/social justice. Some of the…

This past weekend, I had the fortune and honor to attend a leadership retreat for freshmen & sophomores at my university. I’d been working on this project for ten months (I was one of the retreat coordinators) and as I reflect on the weekend, I am drawn to the ancient Greek concept of chronos time…

The past three months since I got my TFA acceptance have essentially been one long exercise in relinquishing control. It’s ironic, really, especially considering TFA takes such great pains to recruit and select applicants who have been so purposeful/intentional about their respective life paths. I will unabashedly admit I am awful at giving up control,…

I grew up on TeachForUs. I remember spending entire nights reading through it back in 2008, when I was a junior in high school. The idea of applying to TFA flitted in and out of my life with the contours of my college trajectory. In a moment of fear, I told myself I would never…