I'M HIRED!

Can you imagine my stress when there are only 28 out of 73 corps member who weren't hired yet? Ah, the agony I face as everyone talks about what school they are going to be teaching and how amazing their interviews went. I thought to myself, "hmm..I thought my interviews went great too and they seemed to love me. Why the heck wasn't I getting hired??"


5 local schools came to a hiring fair today. 3 of them in which I was lucky enough to interview with, praying I would get hired. "Today is my day!" I told myself over and over again..debating if I truly believed it. Everyone was supposed to be at the hiring fair at 8:30 am; my first interview was at 9:00. Thinking we left early, my group and I headed over to the LSU Law Center about 5 min away. We parked the car and walked inside to find a creepily empty building. Little did we know, it wasn't at the Law building (that was for tomorrow's meetings) and we were supposed to be at a building 10 miles away. Frantically, I took off my heels and ran to the car. What a way to start my day!


Luckily, we arrived before my first interview, so I had a few minutes to collect my pitch points before I had to sell myself more than ever before. "Today would be my day!" The minute Ms. Taylor saw me walking across the room, she gave me a big smile, and immediately my nerves settled. We hit it off and I just felt comfortable. One thing Ms. Taylor said to me that was really important was that she wanted to work with me and not above me; that we would be partners. My heart lit up the second Ms. Taylor said, "I'm so glad you told me you would feel comfortable teaching second grade, because we have that position available and I would love to offer you the job." Inside, I thought to myself, "HECK YESSSS!! WOOHOO!" And after giving her the biggest smile EVER, I gratefully accepted the position! I was the first to interview, and the first to be hired. Thank goodness! So, I will be the new 2nd grade teacher at Dalton Elementary School. Oh boy!


Now, at last, I can relax!


Later that day my stepmom, Donna, took me to look for apartments and then we went to Acme Oyster House to eat some gumbo and chargrilled oysters! Yummmm!

Chargrilled oysters and Louisiana's local beer, Abita!

That night, my small group and I went to a TFA alum's house for dinner and drinks. Little did I know that he was a middle school science teacher and has the coolest animals in the world! He has snakes, lizards, turtles, a mouse, and best of all, a giant bunny! Look at this thing!

He is also the runt of his kind! 

He is only 12lbs. (generally they are about 25lbs!)

Today was a great day. 

And most importantly, 

I CAN'T WAIT TO BE A SECOND GRADE TEACHER!!

Service Project

Today was such a wonderful day. 


Induction formally started and we were going out in the community to complete service projects in different parishes. (And for those of you who don't know, Louisiana is the only state that is divided up into parishes instead of counties - 64 in total). 


Before setting out to our locations, we were divided up into our small groups to complete our story of self. This is a time where we write a story about a certain challenge we faced and how this ties into how we have been molded as a person. Some of these stories were just incredible. To be sitting next to this person you have known for a day and not realize these life tragedies they have faced makes you appreciate the braveness and work ethic these people have. It is truly inspiring to be apart of a group that is so incredibly diverse, yet so similar. 


After hearing these stories, I was touched. But not as touched as I would get throughout the rest of my day. Shortly after these stories, we were blessed to have the company of 2 young women who witnessed first-hand the difference TFA is making in the schools. One of the girls was a sophomore at a local high school, and the other just graduated and was on her way to a Louisiana college on a full-ride scholarship! Both of these women experienced TFA teachers. Our Leadership coordinator wanted to delve deep into their thoughts of what they wanted from us as not only their teachers, but their community. These girls made it clear of what they wanted from us. They desired to be given the same opportunity they would if they weren't in a low-income neighborhood; they didn't want to be written off as a student who wasn't going to try hard just because they were black; and they certainly didn't want a teacher who wouldn't put forth the effort it would take to get them where they should be. They were sick and tired of people not believing in them. 


And this is when it truly became a reality for me...all they wanted was for a teacher to believe in them. For someone to trust that they can, and will, achieve anything they put their mind to. 


I will be that teacher.








Feeling euphoric, we set off on our community service projects. My group was assigned to the tiny town of Donaldsonville, located in the Ascension parish about 40 miles outside of Baton Rouge. Upon arrival, we met outside this huge building that had been deteriorating for decades. We were introduced to a local, who informed us that we would be painting this building that was formally a museum and was built in 1836! In fact, the same family owns it to this day. Unfortunately it has been shut down since 2004, but they hope to restore and reopen. While hard at work in the blazing summer weather, the 20 or so of us bonded as we took part in something so historic. Through the dirty windows, you could see the fascinating antiques that were inside of this museum; covered in dust and debris, left all alone in this closed building. The local newspaper came out and took our picture, which will be published to portray our passion for the communities in which we serve. Leaving Donaldsonville all sweaty, dusty, and covered in paint, my fellow peers and I discussed how inspiring it was to be apart of renovating such a historic building in the center of this 1,200-resident town.

View of the Mississippi River on our way to Donaldsonville!

Le Man's Building we repainted - Built in 1836

Me hard at work! 

(I took off my shoes because I didn't want paint on them!)

My suite mate, Evelyn, painting!

Historic items in the museum: 

a vacuum, refrigerator, an iron, and a washing machine!

More historic items:

a scale and a stove!

Traveling back home, Baton Rouge introduced us to one of the hardest thunderstorms I have ever witnessed. The houses shook from the thunder, and massive trees split in half from lightning bolts. The streets flooded in a flash and the news warned that no body attempt to go outside. At first I thought it was so cool to see rain, but that soon turned into a nervous state. After the rain cleared we attempted to drive home, but every street was flooded back to our dorm. I have never seen anything like that! Cars were headlight-deep in water and had abandoned their cars before they were engulfed themselves. Are all rainstorms like this?! Locals assured me that this was the hardest they had ever seen it rain in years. Finally, we made a decision to drive through..luckily, my driver had a large SUV. Home at last, and out of the rain, what do you think I did? I CRASHED!

Donaldsonville's local paper: 

should have read this earlier!

The storm rolling in! Scary!

The beginning.

On June 5, 2012 my life changed forever. I packed up all of my belongings (well..what I could fit in 3 suitcases) and moved across the country to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was excited to begin this new adventure, but I was also petrified of what my new life would be like. 


Stepping off the plane was a reality check. I mean the humidity just smacks you in the face and you start to sweat..seriously. Born and raised in Arizona, humidity is like an unexplored world..but not here..definitely not in Louisiana! 

The minute I arrived at the Kirby Smith dorm at Louisiana State University, I was greeted with tons of smiling faces that were so calming to my nerves. I had never met any of these people, and yet they treated me as if I had known them for a lifetime. After trucking my multiple suitcases upstairs, I was brought into my dorm room. Oh boy! Let's just say it looks like a jail cell and the bathroom we share with another room doesn't even have a door on it! Nope, not even a door..just a lovely curtain. I was relieved to meet my roommate whom I have previously met through the TFA Facebook..thank goodness! Stephanie and I hit it off immediately, and she is also teaching Elementary. She is from a small town in Tennessee and has a boyfriend back home that she misses (just like me!). My suite mates are also amazing. When I first walked into their vacant room, I saw one of the beds fashioned with an Oklahoma State University blanket. My first thought...oh crap! (Boomer Sooner, baby!). But she did have about a zillion Vera Bradley bags, which made up for it of course. Hanna is a wonderful person from a small town near Stillwater, Oklahoma and will be my school's neighbor teaching Middle School Art and English next year. My other suite mate, Evelyn, is from New York. She is quite the little firecracker and makes me laugh every day. She is originally from Colombia and is teaching High School Spanish. The four of us get along so well and I am so lucky to have been paired up with them. 

My dorm room for the next few days! Woohoo! (not)

That night, TFA planned a dinner for us at the restaurant, Chelsea's. It's this cool little dive that has great beer and food! After dinner we stuck around to meet everyone from our corps as well as second-year, alums, and staff -- There are 73 first-year corps members this year! I never would have thought it would be this easy to make friends. It is so fascinating to meet people from all over the country who share the same passion as you. After meeting so many new people, my new friends and I were absolutely exhausted, so we came back to our dorm and CRASHED.