As I prepare for my second week of teaching, I find myself directly at the midpoint of this roller-coaster of a journey. One week of induction in Miami, one week of getting acclimated to Tulsa, and my first week of teaching down- I have done a LOT of reflecting. This time, however, not by choice.
Everything I really want to say boils down to this- my past experiences have really made this 'training' episode doable. Much more than doable, I must say, If I were to compare the experience I'm having to those around me who are having one hellish time here.
Without coming from the neighborhood I came from, I would not have the internal drive to align myself to this mission. Regardless of all the training and sessions they do to help prepare corps members for this kind of a culture shock, they won't know how to deal with it until they have experienced it first hand. I must say, I am definitely going to pray for some people. That's really all I can do. Lord, help them.
Without my absolutely loving family to serve as my solid backbone, I just don't know what would happen. To be honest, I can't picture a reality without them being completely loving and supportive, even if they don't fully comprehend the work that I'm doing. I can be in the next room or several states away, but the strength of the bond my family has is magical and I know it's what fuels me everyday. I am blessed and completely grateful for them.
And last but most certainly not least, without this past year working for Breakthrough, I would not have been prepared for this culture of fast-paced deadlines, BT/TFA language, and the all encompassing organism that is TFA. I'm am SO grateful of the long hours I spent day in and day out, weekend after weekend, trying to make every single action intentional and 'worth it'. Somewhere along the way, it didn't take long, I absolutely grew to love my students and their families. But I can't thank enough the people I worked alongside with, for they became my family and I needed their support as much as they needed mine.
If I hadn't of had that experience of pouring as much heart and soul out of my sleep depraved body for my BT students, then I'd probably be having a hellish time here too. But since I had almost a year of creating meaningful relationships, this is almost like a mini-let's-pretend-you're-an-undergrad-again vacay.
Let me be clear, I am not sitting completely pretty. I, too, feel the pressures of the deadlines. Being observed does cause me to be a tad bit more alert, especially when my students were acting like angels 10 seconds before my observer walked in the door, and lesson planning is still very new to me, but I have kept a clear and level head and have been able to stay on top of things, if not just a tad bit ahead. (Otherwise how would I have time to write this?)
So far, I know that I am on the right path; I feel as if i'm doing what was planned for me to do in life. While I'm still 99.9% confident that I will not be in education once the dust settles, sorry Cooper, I do know that what I'm doing now will not only leave a long lasting affect on my students but on me as well.
Until next time,
RTIII
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