So my new concern...

Is that if I go to New York or Omaha for a Teach for America interview (still keeping those fingers crossed!) is that I won't come back to Alaska. Another fellow AmeriCorps member even volunteered to pack up my stuff and send it home if I decided not to come back. She offered even though I was already thinking it. Decisions, decisions. Here's hoping they offer TFA interviews in Alaska.

Trying to Decide Which Basket to Put All the Eggs In...

So I had my phone interview with Teach for America on Sunday. I think it went pretty well and I'm pretty hopeful. If they offered me a teaching position in New York, I'm about 99% sure I would do it. Nothing is ever 100%. You know how I am with the options...things always come up! :)

I have been asking around to folks familiar with NYC Teaching Fellows and Teach for America to try and be as prepared as I can be for this whole process. It looks like NYCTF is primarily looking for math, science, and special education teachers. I'm not qualified to teach math or science so that leaves special education. I'm really not sure how I feel about teaching special education. I kind of have my heart set on teaching elementary school and it doesn't look like that is a "high demand" area for them either. I've also heard that the support system for NYCTF isn't nearly as strong as Teach for America. I'm sure that is for a variety of reasons: smaller organization, funding, etc. After this year and being up here in no man's land, feeling like I serve with an organization that doesn't really give a crap about us, not having some semblance of a support system has become a deal breaker for me. So I've got some thinking to do...

I find out Tuesday if I get an interview for Teach for America so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Some exciting news!

So it's no secret that I like to apply for things. (I have deferred my admission for two completely separate degree programs for this fall. I still apply for jobs even though I have a couple that I'm pretty content with. The list goes on...) It's something I get made fun of for on a pretty regular basis. I even coined a term for it in college: compulsive joining. I've actually tried to make my compulsive joining a little more planned and purposeful and with that in mind (and also the fact that I miss civilization and New York City more each day), I applied for Teach for America, an organization focused on closing the achievement gap that places teachers in high needs school in 35 urban and rural areas across the country and also NYC Teaching Fellows, a program with a similar mission but specific to New York City.

On Thursday I found out that I was offered a phone interview for Teach for America and an in person interview for NYC Teaching Fellows! It was a pretty exciting day! :) So I'm headed back to the Greatest City on Earth sometime the second week in February. I will hear back from Teach for America on January 26th if I am offered an in person interview so I'm hoping I can kill two birds with one stone. New York City here I come! :)

(dis) Organized Chaos

Perhaps one of my biggest challenges here is entering the world of non-profit and all of the chaos that has a tendency to ensue. Lack of communication, ten extra steps to accomplish just about anything, mountains of paperwork that are submitted to 100 different people in order to maintain funding for just about everything. Last spring I applied and was accepted to Vanderbilt and Teachers College in order to get a second master's degree in organizational leadership. It's like business school without actually going to business school. It's all about communication, leadership, effectiveness, efficiency, and all those other things that really excite me to no end. So to enter into a world of complete chaos in those respects has been one of the biggest challenges throughout this whole experience.

My site supervisor, while a wonderful woman and really very nice, will tell you, "This is why I don't like being a supervisor..." So that in and of itself is wonderful to hear every week. She's pretty scatterbrained and not the best communicator. Also, our office looks like it should be nominated for the TV show Clean House. The physical clutter gives me anxiety. Let alone all of those other efficiency things that can make your work life bearable and even enjoyable.

I was scheduled to teach all three morning English classes and when I walked in to find the papers I had set aside for the classes no where to be found, honestly, I was in a pretty annoyed mood. But then after class started, something kind of magical happened. While I am a firm believer in training (Not just "hey watch me do this" but actually teach me how and why we do this. I just graduated from 19th grade. Formal education and training is all I know.), I found that even though I felt completely unprepared to teach anyone anything, let alone another language, I felt like I didn't do too bad.

So I'm actually kind of excited about taking it upon my self to get some training (I plan on signing up for an online Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate.) so I can feel like I actually know what I'm doing.

This whole moving to Alaska thing is character building at it's finest. :)

Alaska Nebraksa

So I just learned that there was a character on The Simpsons named Alaska Nebraska this past spring. Apparently she is a pop singer, a parody of Miley Cyrus.

I promise I did not move to Alaska from Nebraska to become the next Hannah Montana, but had I seen that episode last spring all bets would have been off. :)

Healthcare Reform Much?

So I have viewed into yet another window that I may not have been able to see into otherwise had it not been for AmeriCorps. A few weeks ago I was having some cold and flu symptoms and in lieu of trying to navigate our crappy insurance and see a family practitioner, I went to the Emergency Room at the local hospital. No big deal. Well it's been about three weeks and my symptoms have worsened. I'd like to think I'm not one to jump at a minor ailment but when we're living in a state of swine flu paranoia and with a worsening upper respiratory infection, I decided to err on the side of caution. So I called our local neighborhood health clinic, the only place (I was told) that took our AmeriCorps insurance. And the soonest appointment for new patients? Almost a month out. Holy cow. This is a clinic that charges patients on a sliding scale (and needs documentation from patients to do so) and also does health care services for the homeless population in Anchorage. While Anchorage is by no means a booming metropolis, having only one of these clinics in town is a bit of an issue. I'm not sure if there is a disproportionate amount of social services here or if I'm just noticing it more because of where I live, the work I do, the amount of money I make, the insurance I have, etc. but this city could probably benefit from several more clinics that provide these types of services. Really makes me rethink this whole health care reform business...

Have You Heard About the Morgans?

So I saw this preview when I went and saw a movie in College Station this summer. I love Hugh Grant and I love Sarah Jessica Parker, so AMC will more than likely get $9.75 from me when this movie comes out.

The joke about Sarah Palin got a few laughs in Texas. When I saw the same preview here in Alaska, you'd think it was the funniest movie preview. Ever. In the history of movies. The audience was still laughing well after the preview was over and halfway through the next preview.

Only one question remains...Where am I?!