Teach For America is gonna be amazing

Tonight I finished this really, really cool little book that Teach For America has as the first part of its self-training program that they ask you to do before entering the formal training they do starting in June—it’s the retold story of real a TFA elementary school teacher going through her first four years of teaching. And it’s amazing—I mean, yes, I am a total sucker for inspirational teacher stories, and always have been, but part of what made this one so touching is that it’s not a retelling starring Michelle Phieffer or the Boys Don’t Cry girl, even when those are based on true stories. It’s real. The kids who completely turn around their achievement are real. This woman and everything she did is real. I dig things that are real—because they much more vividly lead you to remember real amazing stories from your own life, and are so much more inspiring in terms of showing you what is really possible with a little idealism and genuine love for your fellowman.

It’s interesting that prepping for Teach For America feels a lot like prepping for a mission—not just because of the anxiety or sense of limbo you feel going into any major life change, but because both are hard things that you only do if you want to do them, and both are focused on people. Both are experiences that can be amazing and life-changing for you and those you work with, if you put in the effort to make it so. I think one of the reasons this is on my mind is because I ended up talking online for a while with Hana, the preteen daughter of Marcelo and Edite, one of the families I got closest to on my mission—and like it always is with them, I just got on the biggest high from hearing about how amazingly well they’re all doing, and from giving and feeling once again that level of love that you only feel with family, or those that are family in everything but blood. I can’t wait to get to New York and plunge myself into the twitchy little grade schoolers who I hope will be the newest addition to that group.