So I got some news today... I heard back from Teach for America and was not offered a position for the 2010 Corps. To be perfectly honest, I was a little surprised. I feel like I'm a pretty strong candidate for the program. My undergraduate record is pretty bomb. I went to a "Ivy League" school for graduate school. I'm doing volunteer work now with kids.
But after my initial disappointment set in, I started to question. What was it about me that didn't fit with what they're looking for? Does the fact that I'm already working in education give me a strike? I've heard they don't really want people who have wanted to be a teacher since they were little. That's not who they're looking for. I feel like everyone I know who is doing this program (even my interviewer!) wants to go to business school or law school. Maybe the fact that I'm already working in an educational setting counted against me. Maybe I should have told them that I applied to law school a couple years ago. Maybe that would have helped.
Or maybe it was the fact that my top preference was New York City. While they do have the largest Corps in New York, I also applied about 6 months after the first go round of applicants. So in theory, New York could have been "full." Teach for America was making a huge push for their high needs regions, the Mississippi Delta being one of them. At our interview they said they were going to open up the region selection again but only if you preferenced the Mississippi Delta as your top choice. I thought about it at the time, but then I walk outside and get blinded by the lights of the Empire State Building and Harold Square and the thought of living any place but New York went right out the window. After I had submitted my application and regional preferences, I thought I had been a little closed minded when it came to regional preferences.
To be honest, at the time that I applied, I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of Alaska and back to a place I know and love. But even in the weeks since my Teach for America interview, my attitude on Alaska has changed. I have met some amazing people. Made some good friends. Got switched to a site placement serving at an organization I'm actually excited about. And to top it off, the sun was up when I woke up this morning! So things are definitely looking up! :) I had even been thinking over the past several weeks that if I was offered a Teach for America position, that I would try and defer it for a year in order to do another AmeriCorps term at home or elsewhere. So I guess I didn't have to worry about deferring, they made that decision for me. And after that initial, "WTF?" feeling passes, I think it will be okay. I'm a firm believer that you end up where you're supposed to. My favorite quote by Max Ehrmann sums it up quite nicely, "And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." Alright universe, start unfolding...
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