Hello November…Hello Future!

This week has been hectic, to say the least. It’s also been a kind of “Hey, Amanda! Let’s quickly consider all of your options for the next year with handy specified days for each possible path.”

Let’s start with Wednesday: Wednesday I got up at 6:00AM, which is normally an hour which doesn’t exist in my life, to get myself prepared for my day long (Let me say that again…day long) interview for Teach for America. Now to give you some idea of the intensity of this process: for this interview, I had to collect official transcripts from my school, submit two recommendations, read five articles on education in low-income communities, and prepare a five minute sample teaching lesson. 

I was pretty calm about the interview, as I’d be happy and flattered to be accepted but if I’m not, I have other options (as evidenced below). This isn’t my only hope or anything. That said, the interview itself made me kind of nervous. You get there and there are eleven other impeccably dressed young people who all have resumes that include going to places like Yale or working on cancer research or doing extensive community service. Then you have to watch them all teach these inventive, thought out lessons, while you (read: me) thought that your lesson for high schoolers didn’t need worksheets or visual aids, which everyone else so happens to have. Then, you do this group exercise where you have to use your knowledge of the readings to think of a strategy for improving test scores at a fake middle school where you fake teach. THEN you have to write a reflection on the readings. THEN you have to take a multiple choice/essay “test” (they call it an “exercise”) with charts and data and reasoning….it’s tiring. After all that, you come back in the afternoon to have your hour long, one-on-one interview, which walks you through role play exercises and a bunch of those fun “what would you do in this situation” questions. Good times. Really.

Overall, I thought the day went well. They prefaced our morning with the note that we really weren’t competing with each other, as they judge everyone individually against their standards and choose from there. Because of that, the whole group was super supportive, especially through the sample teaching, which was nerve-racking for everyone. It was impressive how well we all worked together for having just met and kind of (but not really…) being in competition with each other. It made me feel like should I be accepted into the program,  I’d be surrounded by extremely smart but supportive people. 

Today, I went in to the Graduate Open House at Emerson, even though I visited this summer, as I thought it would be smart to get a real program overview from the faculty rather than just the students. We had a seminar about admission and financial aid, which given the whole our-economy-is-falling-apart thing was a little scary. The actual overview of the program turned into more of a discussion between the seven people who were there to look at the program, two current students, and the head of the program. I think what struck me the most was how the things many of the people there are feeling about their jobs and careers 2 to 10 years out of college are the exact same things I have begun to fear I’ll feel 2 to 10 years out of college, only I know about  them now. The whole disillusioned-with-the-industry, can’t-work-a-desk-job, wanting-to-give-back mentality is something everyone shared, and weirdly, something I already have. How am I disillsuioned with a world I have yet ot enter? I guess I’ve already seen it through my internships and jobs during college, but it’s hard to get people who’ve actually experienced it to believe that I have, too. Anyway, the whole thing made me feel like I’d found the right program for me, making me want to go there even more, which is both good and bad. I have a clear goal, which is good for me, but I fear a major meltdown should I not achieve that goal. 

I mean, I feel qualified to get a job in Film and TV (my current major), but my sister is having a really tough time finding a job in the field, and she actually wants it! I can’t imagine working that hard for jobs I don’t even think I’d enjoy….BUT, I’m not there yet. Not even close. First, I have to see what Teach for America says. Then, if that doesnt’ work, I have to get my application to Emerson in. If that doesn’t work, I’ll figure out something…I hope.

The other big news (I suppose) is that I’m attempting (emphasis on attempting) to participate in NaBloPoMo, which means I have to post every…single…day in November. Quite a change from my three posts in October. I’m trying to use this as a way to get blogging back in my routine, as it has clearly been pushed to the bottom of my priority list in favor of things like work, school, and sleeping. We’ll see how this works out.