TFA
Teach For America turns 35 this year. I'm an '08 corps member.
I'm the product of K12 public education and two parents who believe in access to public education.
Public education made me who I am--particularly the diversity (racial, socioeconomic, cultural, and intellectual diversity).
I learned about TFA in high school and immediately knew that I wanted in.
In the late aughts, getting into TFA was not a given.
Whole senior classes at Spelman and huge percentages at the Ivies applied.
I was a good student, but not a stand out (Wake Forest was quite competitive academically).
I knew my resume and interview would have to make up for that.
I was fortunate, as a sophomore, to meet a woman who was a TFA alumni.
She mentored me through the process, connecting me with TFA early.
I prepped for the interview intensely.
I taught mock lessons to my sorority sisters.
I connected with alumni for mock interviews and to learn about their experiences.
I applied early in fall semester, while prepping for the LSAT.
I still remember when I got in.
I called everyone in my family. I set my AIM away message to: "I GOT INTO TFA!"
I was placed in Phoenix.
I lived downtown and worked forty miles west of Phoenix, in Buckeye (very, very rural).
Commuting 80 miles a day during the recession when gas hit nearly $5 a gallon was brutal.
I hated Arizona. I loved teaching.
I taught all-subjects to 30+ fifth graders, over two years.
I gave them my everything.
It was the hardest and most transformative period of my life.
I learned about loving unconditionally--because you cannot hold a student's Monday behavior against them on Tuesday.
I had a front row seat to major political issues for the first time in my life (immigration, incarceration and access to justice, food insecurity, the mortgage crisis).
I learned about routines, I honed my time management, and I thrived on organization amidst pure chaos.
I am who I am today because of Teach for America.
I still believe in public education and Teach For America's mission.
I still believe in my students--who I knew they could become and who I want to become for them.
As Teach For America turns 35, I hit 18 years since I joined the corps.
I'll never regret taking that detour.
And, one day, all children will have access to an excellent, public education.
✌🏻♥️🔥