Alum offers insight: Life's hard, get a helmet
John Carlisle
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Opinion
Graduating seniors, here's another piece of unsolicited advice: You're going to be OK, even if your "Plan A" doesn't work out. Six months after graduation, I realized my humbling and torturing Plan A, Teach for America, wasn't a good fit.
TFA, the national nonprofit that recruits recent grads to teach in low-income schools, has a great mission, but I joined without doing enough soul-searching to determine if I really was prepared for all of its stresses. For those considering it, I am not telling you to join or not to join because only you can make that decision. I would, however, like to share my experience.
In early June, I moved to Phoenix, where I live now, in one chaotic week. Then I spent five weeks in Atlanta training to be a teacher, or TFA "corps member." During "Institute", or "teacher boot camp," I slept an average-no exaggeration-of four hours per night.
After Institute, I returned to Phoenix to start teaching almost immediately. Each class had about 35 teenagers in it, all of whom were several grade levels behind. I expected this, but I didn't expect TFA to require us to be working on a Master's in education at the same time.
Every Monday, I left school, drove straight to Arizona State and had class until 10 p.m. before having to drive home, grade papers, lesson plan and wake up at 5:30 a.m. the next day. I still wasn't sleeping and was still failing all of my master's courses. TFA also required us to attend mandatory professional development sessions Saturdays and on some weeknights.
Quickly, I learned that I had no life outside of this Sisyphean endeavor. I developed depression and had to see a therapist. At 22 and having graduated Summa Cum Laude, I had never been more despondent and burned out.
That's why I got a divorce, so to speak, from TFA in October. As I wasn't a fully certified teacher, I couldn't keep my teaching job without the organization's endorsement. With bills to pay and no income, it was sink-or-swim time in the real world, and I had no life preserver.
My internship experience and degree led to Plan B, an editorial job at a magazine publishing company in Phoenix. That's why I don't regret committing to TFA; if I hadn't, I wouldn't have this new job, which I enjoy. Its best feature is a standard work week, as opposed to one that never ends. Slowly, I'm getting comfortable in my new environment.
TFA was my attempt to please everyone but myself. That's a big mistake. People have to pursue what makes them happy. You don't have to take the first job or grad school offer, but even if you do and it's terrible, you can always bounce back.
The real world is tough, and regardless of how smart you are, you'll start at the bottom and work your way up. You may not be great next year, but you will be OK.
john.t.carlisle@gmail.com
TFA, the national nonprofit that recruits recent grads to teach in low-income schools, has a great mission, but I joined without doing enough soul-searching to determine if I really was prepared for all of its stresses. For those considering it, I am not telling you to join or not to join because only you can make that decision. I would, however, like to share my experience.
In early June, I moved to Phoenix, where I live now, in one chaotic week. Then I spent five weeks in Atlanta training to be a teacher, or TFA "corps member." During "Institute", or "teacher boot camp," I slept an average-no exaggeration-of four hours per night.
After Institute, I returned to Phoenix to start teaching almost immediately. Each class had about 35 teenagers in it, all of whom were several grade levels behind. I expected this, but I didn't expect TFA to require us to be working on a Master's in education at the same time.
Every Monday, I left school, drove straight to Arizona State and had class until 10 p.m. before having to drive home, grade papers, lesson plan and wake up at 5:30 a.m. the next day. I still wasn't sleeping and was still failing all of my master's courses. TFA also required us to attend mandatory professional development sessions Saturdays and on some weeknights.
Quickly, I learned that I had no life outside of this Sisyphean endeavor. I developed depression and had to see a therapist. At 22 and having graduated Summa Cum Laude, I had never been more despondent and burned out.
That's why I got a divorce, so to speak, from TFA in October. As I wasn't a fully certified teacher, I couldn't keep my teaching job without the organization's endorsement. With bills to pay and no income, it was sink-or-swim time in the real world, and I had no life preserver.
My internship experience and degree led to Plan B, an editorial job at a magazine publishing company in Phoenix. That's why I don't regret committing to TFA; if I hadn't, I wouldn't have this new job, which I enjoy. Its best feature is a standard work week, as opposed to one that never ends. Slowly, I'm getting comfortable in my new environment.
TFA was my attempt to please everyone but myself. That's a big mistake. People have to pursue what makes them happy. You don't have to take the first job or grad school offer, but even if you do and it's terrible, you can always bounce back.
The real world is tough, and regardless of how smart you are, you'll start at the bottom and work your way up. You may not be great next year, but you will be OK.
john.t.carlisle@gmail.com
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