Choices and dreams
Last night I dreamt that this program suddenly had an emergency meeting to discuss student behavior. Naturally, a few students would not come down from the second story.* So I began to use my middle school teacher tricks to get him down the stairs. Then, suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders and hugged me tightly to him. We proceeded down the stairs at a snail's pace until I lost my temper and yelled at him (my middle school teacher's yell until he let go and walked down the stairs like a normal person. I had yelled at him in front of the whole school, and now the director began to gently take me to task for it, also in front of the whole school.
I woke up from the dream to the sound of the grey cat knocking over a lamp. I am house sitting for an English teacher and her grey cat has taken a shine to me. He came into see me at regular intervals while I lie on my bed trying to keep cool and unconcious.
In my exit interview, the director asked me how this summer will affect the trajectory of my life. The answer is that I definitely want to come back next summer, or at least go to a similar program in SF or Portland. I am definitely going to stay at my school for three years. "Really?" she interrupted, "I'm a one-year-at-a-time-girl, myself." I winced and smiled. I smiled because I always like it when gangbuster feminists refer to themselves and girls, and I winced because she has probably never applied for 150 jobs in a summer. It is last year's hell that made me take the vow of staying put for three years. But what about after that three years is over?
Options:
1. Taking a master's in History from Harvard or Paris or Oxford or McGill. Find out what education is like on the tippy-top floor and, hopefully, in a foreign country. Armed with a master's, I could teach in independent schools for the rest of my life and community college if I chose.
2. Summerbridge director is definitely on my life list. The job has the added advantage that most Summerbridge programs are attached to an independent school and most directors have some teaching responsibilities at that school. Best of both worlds.
3. Teaching disadvantaged middle schoolers full time. I don't think I'll ever teach in public schools ever again, (don't want to, don't have the certification), but there are programs like this all over the country. This one is probably the hardest, because once they accept a student, they never kick him or her out. And they accept four-fifths of their students by lottery. The other fifth comes from child welfare--instead of taking the kids away from their parents entirely, welfare just sends them to to this school.
This school was founded by two Episcopalians (who are now priests) who met teaching at a school founded by the Jesuits. It's also tuition-free, year-round, and 12-hours per day, but they kick the bad apples out and accept students on the merits of their application. So I could go teach for the Jesuits.
I could also teach for the Franciscans. They have a series of tuition-free college prep schools for disadvantaged students. One is even in North Portland. The job sounds custom-tailored to me.
4. Teaching English in China. Gotta go live in China at some point. I may start learning Chinese this year.
5. Keeping my sweet job and sweet job; teaching music in SF, playing my gigs, and travelling to Boston every summer to help the needy. I could do that for next 40 years.**
*the second story of a building that does not actually exist.
**my 24-year-old mind does not actually comprehend what 40 years even is.
I woke up from the dream to the sound of the grey cat knocking over a lamp. I am house sitting for an English teacher and her grey cat has taken a shine to me. He came into see me at regular intervals while I lie on my bed trying to keep cool and unconcious.
In my exit interview, the director asked me how this summer will affect the trajectory of my life. The answer is that I definitely want to come back next summer, or at least go to a similar program in SF or Portland. I am definitely going to stay at my school for three years. "Really?" she interrupted, "I'm a one-year-at-a-time-girl, myself." I winced and smiled. I smiled because I always like it when gangbuster feminists refer to themselves and girls, and I winced because she has probably never applied for 150 jobs in a summer. It is last year's hell that made me take the vow of staying put for three years. But what about after that three years is over?
Options:
1. Taking a master's in History from Harvard or Paris or Oxford or McGill. Find out what education is like on the tippy-top floor and, hopefully, in a foreign country. Armed with a master's, I could teach in independent schools for the rest of my life and community college if I chose.
2. Summerbridge director is definitely on my life list. The job has the added advantage that most Summerbridge programs are attached to an independent school and most directors have some teaching responsibilities at that school. Best of both worlds.
3. Teaching disadvantaged middle schoolers full time. I don't think I'll ever teach in public schools ever again, (don't want to, don't have the certification), but there are programs like this all over the country. This one is probably the hardest, because once they accept a student, they never kick him or her out. And they accept four-fifths of their students by lottery. The other fifth comes from child welfare--instead of taking the kids away from their parents entirely, welfare just sends them to to this school.
This school was founded by two Episcopalians (who are now priests) who met teaching at a school founded by the Jesuits. It's also tuition-free, year-round, and 12-hours per day, but they kick the bad apples out and accept students on the merits of their application. So I could go teach for the Jesuits.
I could also teach for the Franciscans. They have a series of tuition-free college prep schools for disadvantaged students. One is even in North Portland. The job sounds custom-tailored to me.
4. Teaching English in China. Gotta go live in China at some point. I may start learning Chinese this year.
5. Keeping my sweet job and sweet job; teaching music in SF, playing my gigs, and travelling to Boston every summer to help the needy. I could do that for next 40 years.**
*the second story of a building that does not actually exist.
**my 24-year-old mind does not actually comprehend what 40 years even is.