Teaching
My last first-week-of-the-semester! Last night I had a presentation for a project I do called FUTURE. For FUTURE, I go to a 9th grade geoscience class and lead a lecture and lab. Last semester I worked alone, but this semester Rebecca is going to be working with me, although we're going to be with the same teacher I worked with before. One of the program leaders told me I was a great participant in the program, and that my teacher loved me (about 10 lightbulbs went off in my head saying "letter of recommendation"). And then I spoke with a woman who runs a geology camp for high school kids in the summer, and she offered me a job as one of the instructors. I'm going to hear from Teach for America in a couple days to find out if I made it through the first round of the applications--if I didn't, at least I'll have this camp on my application if I want to apply again next year, if I did, then I can mention it during the interview.
I've been thinking a lot about why I have a sudden desire to be a teacher, if only for a little while. A lot of it probably has to do with A2LP--the program I joined on a bit of a whim, to teach Spanish to 3rd graders, and also so I could have some extra curriculars. A2LP showed me that I really enjoy teaching (although FUTURE definitely proved that I prefer older students). The other big reason is that I really believe in the idea behind Teach for America, which is to narrow the achievement gap. Going from Bentley, and extremely small high school with limited resources, and then meeting people in college who had all these other opportunities in high school was an eye-opening experience.
Of course, I can't leave out the fact that I want something that pays well and will look good on a grad school application to do for a couple years. But beyond that, the idea of Teach for America and the other programs I have been looking at really excites me.