Last week Monday was ridiculous. In one day, Teach for America (TFA) notified applicants if they were accepted, it was my three year anniversary with Tyler, and it was the day before my last two midterms of undergrad. I knew that if I got into TFA, I would be going to the Mississippi Delta.
I did get in to the Delta (teaching elementary)!, studied like crazy for those midterms, and celebrated my anniversary. After drinking way too much this past weekend, this morning I finally realized that I needed to make a decision. I can't quite place a finger on what was halting my decision. I think it was the same response I received when I told people Mississippi, "What the hell!!?? Mississippi????? You didn't choose that location, did you???" haha now, now. Let me explain .......
In between the phone and final interviews, we ranked our grade/subject preferences and our regional preferences (highly preferred, preferred, and places we won't go to if life depended on). The one place that I wouldn't go to was Texas. Then I got Tyler's input. HAHAHAHAHAHA. He added everything on the list, it was kind of amusing to watch. Mississippi Delta was on there. My highly preferred looked something like Bay Area, LA, Seattle, Chicago, Hawaii. Basically they try to place you based on your highly preferred list, from top to bottom. They choose based on your qualifications, the applicant interest in the area, and most importantly, the region need for teachers (which is why I'm going to the Delta). First you get accepted. Then you get placed.
Before I submitted that list, we had a final interview/regional preference informational session. Not only is the Delta one of the most needed regions, but not many people were placing it on their highly preferred regions. Here's a stat from their website: "31 percent of children under age 18 in Mississippi and 26 percent of children under age 18 in Arkansas live below the poverty line, with Delta counties being more poverty-stricken than the state average." I grew up in a low-income home all my life, went to underfunded schools, and had no intention of going to college until the 10th grade. In fact, at one point I was tracked into the group who would never make it to college for various reasons. My parents didn't know what this meant, they never went. And of course I didn't know what this meant. Kids at that age never do. 10th grade was transformational because of one teacher who helped me realize my potential. From that point, community service and academic skills excelled, APs/straight A's the rest of the way.
Now: my little sister is in 8th grade. They told her not to take honors in high school because she would fail. Honestly, how can you tell a student that?? It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: If you have low expectations for your students, they will fulfill those expectations and you will believe it's due to their "inability" to work hard and their race/SES/etc, but in fact it's because their own teacher is telling them they will fail/have certain low expectations of them. My little sister said to me, "It's alright Summer, I don't really care anyway." UGHHH. Luckily, she has a psycho sister that's going to inspire her to believe that she can do whatever she puts her mind to. And, luckily, I had a teacher in 10th grade that told me I could do it; he saw that I wanted to work with others to make this world a little better, but knew I needed the power that comes with a good college degree to do it: thank you to that teacher. And thank you Berkeley. I will take your prestigious name far.
This is why I put Mississippi Delta on my highly preferred regions. Yes, I would have been more comfortable in the Bay Area. Yes, I would've been closer to my family if I went to L.A. Yes, life would've been easier in Chicago. However, my childhood has allowed me to have a glimpse at what these children might be going through. That glimpse is just enough so I can be emphatic; I'm not there to help them, I'm there to work with them. Most people don't see the difference. Often times we go into a social helping role with the intention of making the world a better place. However, in that role we take our bias and knowledge that makes us think we are "better" than the people we are helping, because society says so. Most of the time all this does is create a vicious cycle and a temporary fix for those people. Give money to the homeless? How about trying to work with them so they find a way to make money on their own. Tell students not to take a class because they will supposedly fail? How about inspiring them to believe in themselves, setting high expectations, so if they fail, they know they need to work harder. I have the opportunity to change the life trajectory of these kids and I'm not about to let it pass.
I know many of you are wondering if Tyler is coming with me. After MUCH deliberation, he is joining me on this adventure. This will actually be an excellent opportunity for Tyler to work on his writing. Job-wise, we're not quite sure yet. It's not like he can just join TFA and get his credentials to teach. Even though it is Mississippi and Tyler is a remarkable person, he didn't apply = would be really unfair to the 40,000 (90%) people who weren't accepted. More importantly, Tyler doesn't want to teach. There was a reason he didn't apply in the first place. No worries though, he will be fine. As long as we're with each other, we'll be fine.
Next time: spring break in san diego
