Hey
@gettheleadout , do you know if schools will refuse to admit students who would knowingly break commitments for programs like TFA and the such (where the minimum commitment is well known)?
If schools take people who break commitments (like quittig TFA after one year or less due to medical school admittance), then they only perpetuate this problem. If pre-meds receive no backlash from their end-goals, then they will selfishly play the system due to no negative repurcussions. They only have everything to gain, and virtually nothing to lose.
It really sucks when people half-ass programs like TFA. The collateral damage is too great. It's not like an ED volunteer eho annoys techs by slacking. These are real kids who are dependent on these instructors for their future. Children as collateral damage is just low...
I would hope that medical schools clamp down on people that ultimately use programs like TFA, CY, and others as mere checklist items. If they don't, the OP's situation will continue to be the norm (not trying to insult the OP in any way).
He didn't break a commitment while in his service year. It was during the application process. It would be like if someone got into med school, and then decided they didn't want to go. Even if they committed to a specific school there wouldn't be anything wrong with them doing something better for themselves. Especially if someone else can just take their spot. This is the APPLICATION process.
Doing TFA is VERY VERY different than city year. Regardless, there are okay reasons to quit, and there are bad reasons to quit.
I had a friend quit TFA because the challenges were too hard and he burned out (kids hitting them and too much violence and language barriers), now that person is at a top 20 med school and is still a great person. Another friend dropped in the training for TFA because in Mississippi corporal punishment can be used and she didn't want to hit her students and there was a huge culture shock in rural Mississippi, I couldn't blame her and now she is successful and a great person in a different teaching setting.
I had a friend quit their AC position last year because the position changed after a few weeks and it was still undefined to the extent that she didn't feel like she was being used at all and really had nothing to contribute (she couldn't change her position). She quit, is still a good person, and is at a top MBA program. I had a friend who got in a similar position and stayed and she HATED her life for a year and by not quitting, she put herself through a meaningless year without growth or responsibility because she had such a terrible supervisor and hostile work environment. She should have quit!!!
I know another person who quit AC midway through because the was robbed at gun point and had her car stolen. Making on 12,000 dollars a year, she wasn't able to afford all of the things associated with this and decided she had to quit her commitment because she needed an income (no family to support her).
I know another person who quit AC because she had a kid and found herself unable to afford daycare on a 12,000 dollar/year living stipend (that she thought she would get covered as part of the program, but wasn't).
I got into a Masters program at UPenn and told them I was going, but dropped a week before classes when I got my AmeriCorps position. It saved me >80,000 dollars and I got some amazing experiences in AC. I'm very confident that I made the right decision and equally confident that this life decision has 0 effect on my integrity or the strength of my word.
And finally, I know a person who quit 3 months early because she got into a grad program and wanted to vacation. THIS is a selfish reason to quit. I totally agree that this person made a selfish and not respectable decision. (this is not even close to the OP's situation though)
For the other people, they made hard life choices to maximize their happiness/safety/financial security/etc. They were totally justified IMO and generally by the opinion of our AC director and other staff.
These are just a few anecdotal examples I have seen. I served as the lead of an AC program and was involved in statewide programming and recruitment for 200 AC members so I know how this process works and how challenging it can be. It's a volunteer position and often has as many problems as it has rewards. There are definitely good reasons and bad reasons to break a commitment. To argue that they should never be broken and your word is as mighty as stone and can never be broken under any circumstance and if it is zeus should strike you down with a thunderbolt because you have 0 integrity for the rest of your life, is too black and white for what actually happens in the world.
