Leaving Teach for America to go to Americorps mid year

[morningplayer]

Hi,

I am a first year TFA corps member in a rural teaching placement teaching high school chemistry.
I live in such a small town that all of my students know exactly where I live.

I am also planning on applying to medical schools during the June 2014 application cycle.

Let me begin by saying that Teaching, TFA, and serving a rural community are all extremely challenging things.
I go to work early in the morning, and I leave late at night. I give my job my all, but most days, I leave work emotionally, physically, and psychologically devastated. At the end of the day, I can't think straight. I can't hold a conversation. I am a devastated wreck.
I am constantly under pressure from all sides for not being a more effective teacher. Also, to be fair, I am not the best teacher there is.
Teaching is really starting to affect my health and my holistic well-being.


An incident happened recently that really shook me up. A student or a group of students of mine came to my house, egged it, vandalized it, and left a textbook with racial slurs written on it.
I am an minority person.
The repercussions from the incident are that hate crime charges may be filed against the student.
Now, for me as an outsider living in a impoverished, rural, isolated, and tight-knit community, I am beginning to be concerned about my personal safety because I expect some blowback from the student, his family, or perhaps the community at large.
I have positive interactions with my students, community members, and my colleagues every day. However, I always have to be aware that I am an outsider in a very isolated small-town community.
I do not have a support system, I am at my placement by myself, and I live in an area where my physical address is public knowledge. I feel that my personal safety is at a high concern.


I am considering resigning from my teaching post in the middle of my first year of teaching, and requesting a reassignment into an Americorps program that is also in the region. The Americorps program also serves a similar mission as Teach for America in that I would be an assistant to a lead classroom teacher. I would be working as a mentor role and interacting with students that are from rural, disadvantaged communities.

My question is: how would getting reassigned to Americorps look to med-school adcoms? Would this be detrimental to my applications? Does anyone have experience in the matter?

Your serious and thoughtful input would be much appreciated. I am in the middle of a very stressful situation right now.

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[SunsFun]

I am sorry to hear about your experiences but I think the best thing do for you would be to reach out to your PD or other people in the organization and bring your concerns to them. Don't worry about this affecting your med school application as it is inconsequential at a moment.

 

[nemo123]

I'm sure your particular site and TFA as a whole has dealt with issues like this before. Have you talked with your supervisors or administrators about this situation? They should have some advice for you and what direction you should head towards. That being said, if you fear for your personal safety, I recommend that you try to get out ASAP. TFA and Peace Corps are tough for a reason, and I don't think an adcom committee would hold it against you to get reassigned to Americorp, which is on a similar level to the other two. I'm sure, though, that some adcom members might wonder why you didn't finish your TFA commitment (it's 2 years I believe). Are you going to get a LOR from either program? They might be able to explain the situation better in the LOR.

 

[kyamh]

I am really torn.

Common sense tells me to not upset SDN and reiterate the fact that you can still go to medical school if you quit. That said, here I go.

For the record, your safety is definitely the priority...though it doesn't sound as though you are at that point yet. In Detroit and Philadelphia and Baltimore kids bring guns to schools, even in such situations there are resources in place to make TFA teachers feel safe. Reach out to your TFA office, they will help. Fake this opportunity to stop chem and have a serious discussion with your class about hate speech. Just because you teach chemistry doesn't mean you can't teach these kids to be better humans as well.

Sidenote. My experience comes from living with a person who is in TFA in a bad Boston district, knowing her TFA friends, and knowing two high school friends currently in the Detroit school system in TFA.

Thing one, thes kids need help and that is what you are there for. The fact that you did not anticipate the rigor of the program is on you, there are plenty of resources to get information and your summer training ought to have clued you in. We're you in Philadelphia for the training? I understand that was pretty rough. If you quit for the reason of it being too hard, you need to own up to the fact that you did not accurately assess your ability to keep up with this commitment.

These kids need stability, especially if you are in a school that is truly failing...like Detroit....and leaving in the middle of the year will hurt their education much more than many people assume. If you teach high school, such a disruption can come at very critical times in terms of potential college process and have far reaching consequences. In a normal situation, yes you should leave a workplace you dont't do we'll in. At the same time, you took on an incredible responsibility by teaching. It is not fair but that is what you signed on for. Teachers hardly ever take sick days, teachers work over 12 hours a day on a regular basis, teachers have to work with hellish administration and no money. That is the gig, that is the responsibility, that is exactly why we value and respect and honor teachers.

With the exception of your safety concerns, I was not moved by your post. It sounds as though you didn't understand the hell you were signing up for and that shows a lack of appreciation for the huge commitment that is TFA.

 

[SN12357]

I'm going to disagree with you, @kyamh. Did you have family and friends that did rural TFA placements? Did you grow up in rural small towns? You seem to be saying that you think the urban placements are more dangerous so therefore the OP should be suck it up and be able to handle whatever the challenges are in a rural placement. This is just not true. As someone who has lived in cities and grew up in a more rural place, the dynamic is totally different. If you are a teacher in an urban school you can almost certainly conceal from your students exactly where you live. The police you deal with probably won't be close friends with your students parents. You will not be a stranger to the town in the same way because in a city lots of people are strangers. If you are in a rural placement, everyone in the school will know you address, your house, your landlord, recognize your car, know when you go to Walmart, all of it and you are permanently marked as an outsider. Not to mention MORE people have guns in rural areas, not less. In that type of situation you can absolutely be in more danger in the country than the city.

My friends with rural placements saw as much violence, and dealt with as much straight up bad **** as my friends in the city. Sometimes more so. There was a riot at one of my friend's schools in the rural deep south.

OP, if the situation has deteriorated to the point where your life is in danger and your health is threatened, then leave and don't beat yourself up over it. Do talk to TFA advisors and other support closer to you in the situation to get the most accurate read. If this has happened before, maybe there's evidence it is unlikely to escalate. If it seems very personal and directed at you, maybe not. Just make an informed decision.

Don't think about this in terms of medical school. Think about it in terms of your health and safety.

 

[Lya]

Talk to your adviser or supervisor, as others said above, and I would go from there.

No matter what happens at the end of the day, this is something you can mention in your interviews or other essays to address any potential misunderstanding, so I would not worry about medical school at this point.

 

[NickNaylor]

I am really torn.

Common sense tells me to not upset SDN and reiterate the fact that you can still go to medical school if you quit. That said, here I go.

For the record, your safety is definitely the priority...though it doesn't sound as though you are at that point yet. In Detroit and Philadelphia and Baltimore kids bring guns to schools, even in such situations there are resources in place to make TFA teachers feel safe. Reach out to your TFA office, they will help. Fake this opportunity to stop chem and have a serious discussion with your class about hate speech. Just because you teach chemistry doesn't mean you can't teach these kids to be better humans as well.

Sidenote. My experience comes from living with a person who is in TFA in a bad Boston district, knowing her TFA friends, and knowing two high school friends currently in the Detroit school system in TFA.

Thing one, thes kids need help and that is what you are there for. The fact that you did not anticipate the rigor of the program is on you, there are plenty of resources to get information and your summer training ought to have clued you in. We're you in Philadelphia for the training? I understand that was pretty rough. If you quit for the reason of it being too hard, you need to own up to the fact that you did not accurately assess your ability to keep up with this commitment.

These kids need stability, especially if you are in a school that is truly failing...like Detroit....and leaving in the middle of the year will hurt their education much more than many people assume. If you teach high school, such a disruption can come at very critical times in terms of potential college process and have far reaching consequences. In a normal situation, yes you should leave a workplace you dont't do we'll in. At the same time, you took on an incredible responsibility by teaching. It is not fair but that is what you signed on for. Teachers hardly ever take sick days, teachers work over 12 hours a day on a regular basis, teachers have to work with hellish administration and no money. That is the gig, that is the responsibility, that is exactly why we value and respect and honor teachers.

With the exception of your safety concerns, I was not moved by your post. It sounds as though you didn't understand the hell you were signing up for and that shows a lack of appreciation for the huge commitment that is TFA.

Agree with this 100%. Unless you have some kind of truly extraordinary situation, you should honor the contract that you signed when agreeing to do TFA. That you didn't do your research and don't like what's going on and, dare I say it, have to face some adversity is irrelevant. TFA is a well-recognized program, and most people know that it's for two years. If you have only one year listed on your app (or anything, really - resumes, CVs, etc.), it's likely going to prompt some questioning, and you should have an extremely convincing, well thought-out, and mature response for explaining why you weren't able to uphold your commitment.

All that said, this sounds like one of those extraordinary circumstances, but my advice would be to talk with your supervisor or someone higher up before quitting. This is part of being in the "real world," and it will reflect well on you if you demonstrate that you attempted to deal with this issue in an appropriate (i.e., bureacratic) way. Perhaps it's possible that you can be reassigned for your second year (or immediately). If you feel unsafe then you should leave immediately regardless of the impact on anything else - nothing is worth sacrificing life or limb - but this is almost certainly a couple of ***** kids being ***** kids. I wouldn't think much more of it, but only you can be the judge of that.

You really should approach quitting as an absolute last-resort option. You should do everything you can to honor your commitments, particularly one like TFA that is well-known and familiar to many. You otherwise risk being labeled as a flake unable to hack it, regardless of how serious you think your current situation is. That probably isn't what you want to hear, but that's exactly what many people will likely think, if only for a moment. No one will fault you if, despite doing everything you can to uphold your commitment, you ultimately end up quitting the program. However, immediately jumping to renegging on your contract would be a red flag in my view, and responding with what ultimately amounts to "my house got vandalized" isn't likely to sway many hearts.

 

[darklabel]

None of us knows the situation and to say that something like this is simple case of vandalism doesn't accurately describe what is going on. In the real world, you shouldn't have to deal with people targeting you and egging/trashing your house because you're a minority. As OP is putting it, the kid and his friends know where OP lives and we have no idea how bad it is or if its really just kids messing around or something worse.

OP, I would speak to the supervisor and see if you can transfer within the program somewhere else. If things do escalate like you say and they won't do a transfer, then just quit and explain yourself on your application, secondary etc and go on to your plan on going to Americorps. Risking your safety and peace of mind because it doesn't look good on a med school application is ridiculous.

 

[NickNaylor]

None of us knows the situation and to say that something like this is simple case of vandalism doesn't accurately describe what is going on. In the real world, you shouldn't have to deal with people targeting you and egging/trashing your house because you're a minority. As OP is putting it, the kid and his friends know where OP lives and we have no idea how bad it is or if its really just kids messing around or something worse.

OP, I would speak to the supervisor and see if you can transfer within the program somewhere else. If things do escalate like you say and they won't do a transfer, then just quit and explain yourself on your application, secondary etc and go on to your plan on going to Americorps. Risking your safety and peace of mind because it doesn't look good on a med school application is ridiculous.

I don't think anyone, at least not me, disagrees with what you said. However, there are appropriate ways to deal with situations like this which does not include "immediately disregarding my contract and quitting." And while I understand the anxiety about dealing with a situation like this, frankly if this is the worst thing that you've had to deal with in your life, then you're not going to garner much sympathy about how much danger you're in unless you're telling it to someone with an equally sheltered history. It's all about perspective. I get that the OP is likely scared and uneasy about the situation, but he/she is at risk for making an emotionally-driven, brash decision that could have consequences outside of applying to medical school if he/she ever wants to discuss this experience again. Again, most people know about TFA and the general structure of the program. Good luck going to an employer and weaving a sob story about your house getting vandalized and therefore failing to uphold an employment contract (should the OP discuss the experience) or having 6-month/1-year gap in your employment history that is unexplained (should OP not discuss the experience).

At the end of the day there are a bunch of people OP can and should approach about this situation (principal, TFA supervisors, etc.). Forgoing that and quitting without trying to come to some kind of agreeable situation would be a bad move.

 

[morningplayer]

Thank you very much for all your good thoughts and your responses. I am so appreciative of the efforts that all of you have put into helping me out.
To respond to all other posters, the principal, TFA, and law enforcement are all aware of the situation. Although, I have not communicated to anyone other than my personal friends, my thoughts about a reassignment into Americorps as of yet.


@kyamh @NickNaylor
Yes, I completely understand your position. What I have experienced is in no way an extreme scenario in Teach for America. In fact, it is rather common. Yes, there are people who are in more daft situations that I am in. I fully recognize this.
I failed to clarify something. The vandalism to my house is not the issue here. My house has been vandalized on three separate previous occasions in the semester, and I shrugged those off; no big deal. I really have to re-evaluate my mission if I can be discouraged by a simple act(s) of vandalism.

I wouldn't even say that the complete issue here is that a hate crime has occurred in an extremely rural and an isolated community. The rural and isolated nature of the setting, to re-iterate @SN12357, adds a myriad of complexities and delicacy to the situation. All my students know my address, my car, my landlord, and can predict my whereabouts at any given time of day. Additionally, the area that I serve is so impoverished and sparsely populated, that law enforcement has a minimal presence. There are less than 5 law enforcement officers in the entire county. It is immensely difficult to get a police officer to respond to a scene.

The real issue is the fallout from this incident. We know the identity of the student involved, as his car license plate was seen at my house during the incident by my neighbor, who confronted him. The real issue is that my principal would like to press charges against the student for hate crimes (a federal felony charge). I believe that school districts must have a strong stance against these sorts of things due to legal reasons.
There are three broad general avenues that can result from this. 1) charges are filed and the prosecution possibly ensues, 2) I refuse to press charges and pursue a reconciliatory avenue (i.e. the student is made to apologize), and 3) nothing happens (no response from the schools or law enforcement).

I frankly do not like any of the options.
Avenue 1 is least preferable due to the fact that: a) such a trial or conviction would have serious, devastating implications for the lives of the students involved. I do not want this. I want my students to have the best lives they possibly can. b) pursuing such a high profile charge would put my personal safety in serious danger. I would be foolish not the expect blowback from the student, friends, and family. For reasons I have already stated, it would be very easy to inflict physical harm, and get away with it. c) It would damage my relationship with my students and the community that I serve to press such a high profile charge, and d) It is my understanding that the Aryan Nation, the KKK, and similar groups are present in the area. I have personally confiscated knives with swastikas on them from students. I would not be surprised if this evolves into a larger situation.

Avenue 2 is not favorable due to the fact that it lacks teeth. This may send the message that I am weak, and invite similar future actions.

Avenue 3 is also not favorable due to obvious reasons.


Although I am having a difficult teaching experience, I love the community that I serve. I love my students. I believe in my students.
It would absolutely devastate me to leave. However, I must consider personal safety as well.

Now I want to ask your opinions on the matter. If I explain the situation in a reflective, factual, and mature way, do you believe that a reasonable adcom would understand? Do you believe that a reassignment into Americorps would be a reasonable course of action to take?

 

[Ismet]

You say that TFA is aware of the situation, have they offered any support? Have you talked to them about possible reassignment to another location?

 

[morningplayer]

They were responsive to the situation. However, I haven't talked to them about possible reassignments. I didn't want to open that can of worms just yet.

 

[Ismet]

They were responsive to the situation. However, I haven't talked to them about possible reassignments. I didn't want to open that can of worms just yet.

Personally I think that's your next course of action. People here can only give you so much advice. Don't go in saying you want to be reassigned. Ask them what your options are, but also let them know that the current situation is not safe for you and it cannot stay the same.

 

[morningplayer]

Thanks for your insight. I appreciate it. 🙂
What are your thoughts on the potential implications of this for the med app process? Did you do TFA and then apply to medical schools?

I should clarify my purpose for posting here. I am curious as to how people feel that such an action (reassigning mid-year) would impact the med school app process.
Although thoughtful comments and advice about my course of action are welcome, I really wanted to hear thoughts from people who are familiar with TFA and the med app process.

To sum up: I am really wanting to hear your thoughts on how you think adcoms will react to my situation if it is explained in a clear and mature way.

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

What are your thoughts on the potential implications of this for the med app process?

I mean, quitting never looks good...and med schools are pretty familiar with TFA folks, so they will have heard a lot of horror stories from people who didn't quit. So it might hurt some...how much it would hurt is really hard to quantify. I think the key would be to have a good explanation of the circumstances ready for your application.

 

[SunsFun]

To answer your question directly, I suspect your decision to leave TFA would have a minimal if any impact on med school admissions. You're only 6 months in, if you walk away right now then you only have 6 month gap that you need to explain. You decide what goes on AMCAS application and if you don't want to mention TFA - you don't have to. Just tell them you backpacked through Europe or something if anyone asks but I suspect nobody will care.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Here's what confuses me: why do you think Americorps will be any different? They are similar programs and you mentioned that you want to stay in the same community. What do you think you can achieve by working at Americorps that you can't get by working at TFA?

After rereading your post, I then couldn't help but think that it's the teaching part that you don't like. Teaching isn't easy, that's for sure. It is an experience that can leave you emotionally, physically, and cognitively exhausted at the end of the day. But don't blame the TFA program for this. Blame yourself. My suggestion isn't simply change jobs, but open your eyes and become the teacher TFA hired you for (and the kids need). Do some research on Classroom Management and use mentor teachers to help toughen you up. I suspect that once you can provide the kind of authority these kids need, they won't be trying to intimidate you. Once you can establish good classroom management, you'll have a terrific year.

 

[SN12357]

Here's what confuses me: why do you think Americorps will be any different? They are similar programs and you mentioned that you want to stay in the same community. What do you think you can achieve by working at Americorps that you can't get by working at TFA?

After rereading your post, I then couldn't help but think that it's the teaching part that you don't like. Teaching isn't easy, that's for sure. It is an experience that can leave you emotionally, physically, and cognitively exhausted at the end of the day. But don't blame the TFA program for this. Blame yourself. My suggestion isn't simply change jobs, but open your eyes and become the teacher TFA hired you for (and the kids need). Do some research on Classroom Management and use mentor teachers to help toughen you up. I suspect that once you can provide the kind of authority these kids need, they won't be trying to intimidate you. Once you can establish good classroom management, you'll have a terrific year.

The OP said that the Americorps program would be in the same region and probably means serving the same demographic community. If the problem is a particular person/family in their current small town, moving to a different area of the region (which in rural areas could be 100+ miles away) would probably eliminate the problem.

The OP is getting some good responses here but I feel like a lot of you really don't understand how small towns work. I did domestic violence work in a rural area and if there is danger due to a specific person in an area with poor law enforcement that is a very serious thing. It is not at all comparable to working in a place with even a half-competent proper police force and other infrastructure suburban and urban dwelling people take for granted.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

If you don't think you are qualified to teach, and cannot handle the significant stress it entails, you should quit TFA and do AmeriCorps, or anything else for that matter. I am a second year AmeriCorps member and I love my service experiences thus far. Med school also respect AC service. However, AmeriCorps is it's own challenge and very different, especially in regards to pay, so don't just jump into that as a backup without considering the unique challenges it will bring. AC is more along the lines of an internship than a professional position which will significantly reduce your stress.

The problem is that TFA assumes that if you are smart and idealistic, you can teach in some of the most challenging classrooms in the nation. (In my personal opinion this is a complete disservice to the students and to teaching as a profession.) This is not the case, as many TFA members discover, and if you are not doing well you should quit because you are not serving the students or community very well. You will be more effective in an AmeriCorps roll where you are not the primary educator and are in more of a support role. This is not to say that you are not smart/hard working/awesome/qualified for med school etc for quitting, it's just realizing that teaching is a serious profession that takes significant training and skill.

EDIT: Some of the smartest, hardest working, and compassionate people I know have quit TFA because it is just way too much for them to jump into, and 3 months of training just cannot adequately prepare most people to teach in such challenging schools. They have gone on to med school and other careers of their choosing after quitting so it does not seem as if quitting was a big deal in regards to their future.

 

[kaprincess247]

Hi,

I'm TFA 2nd year CM also in a rural placement. My roommate and I also have vandalism/robbery issues targeted at the "outside" teachers in the area. I completely understand not wanting to fight any kind of legal battle in a small town but also that no repercussions = weakness. We solved the problem by moving to a location where it's simply harder/riskier to commit a crime. I've also had neighbors who have installed cameras and who have convinced landlords to install security systems. If you're ok in the classroom/with the kids and mostly concerned about safety at home is it possible for you to move? Would some of the pressure be removed if you lived in a town you didn't teach in? A longer commute may be worth the kids either not knowing where you are or making at least more difficult to access. PM me if you want to talk more!

And then I realized I never replied to your original question- my brain is completely on winter break mode!

I applied this cycle and was accepted to the state school where I am teaching. TFA was definitely helpful because I love these kids and I want to do things than can be achieved in the classroom, despite loving to teach. My beliefs and goals were ultimately well tailored to the mission of the medical school and I had the experience to back-up what I was saying. I think that if you are in direct physical danger and you need to leave because you fear for your personal safety, then do it. Love the kids, but no job is worth serious injury or worse.

However, I am not sure I would put a 1/2 year without clear evidence that this was the situation, because you are walking out on the school district that's depending on you to fill a contractual obligation for that year and that could be questionable. An adcom would probably be a better source for an answer.

Leaving after a year would probably be better than half-way through, because then at least you fulfilled your obligation to the school, if not TFA.

 

[smarts1]

I think some of you guys are toning down what has happened and taking this too lightly. OP has said that his/her house has been vandalized 3 times. OP is a minority in the area, and OP says there is a presence of hate groups in the area (i.e. KKK and confiscating knives with swastikas on them). This is also an area where everyone knows everyone else's business and something like this will stick for quite some time. The school wants to press charges, but OP is afraid for his/her life if that happens, while doing nothing won't solve anything. This is going to be harder than just saying "suck it up and stay there."

OP, I would try to arrange another meeting with your TFA administrators and discuss possible options (like reassignment to Americorps). From what I have seen, most AmeriCorps positions tend to be office positions. You are in a bad situation right now, and it could definitely get worse quickly. To put it very bluntly, there is no med school if you're dead because the OP decided to suck it up and there was retaliation.

We need some adcom members to chime in here (about the quitting business). @Goro @LizzyM

 

[kyamh]

Here is my lasting problem: if OP felt truly in danger then he/she would not be concerned about what med schools would think and not base his/her decision to quit based off SDN or even based off what an adcom may say. If adcom opinion is still the priority, then I cannot believe a situation is very severe.

@morningplayer @smarts1

 

[morningplayer]

@kyamh We're on winter break right now and all events going forward has been put on hold. I am currently not at my placement site right now, but in the city where I grew up with my parents. Things will progress once we get back into the semester because all involved parties will be present.
I understand what you're saying.
There is no way that I will solely base a decision on what an adcom or people on sdn would say. However, while I am still on break, while there are a few days before we must make key decisions, and while I still have the luxury of having time and geographical distance from the situation for some forethought, I felt that it would be prudent to get all perspectives on the matter.
Medical school is what I've been working towards day and night for a very significant portion of my life. I must consider it as a factor in my decision.
My goal for posting here was really to hear people's reactionary responses to the situation. I wanted to hear what reasonable, conscientious, and intelligent people who are involved in medicine at one level or another felt about the impact this could have on the endeavor that I have given so much of my blood, sweat, and tears towards for so many years.

 

[smarts1]

@kyamh, like morningplayer said, I think being concerned about what med schools would think about this is an extra thought to what has happened and what also needs to be evaluated in order to make a decision. I don't think it was really a priority, but rather an extra layer of thought that needed to go into morningplayer's decision.

 

[morningplayer]

@smarts1 Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, we would be meeting soon after we all get back, and I will definitely ask for more options.

I suppose that a murder seems like an extreme reaction, but it is not outside the realm of possibilities.
Oh life! sometimes we get curveballs. 🙂

 

[smarts1]

@smarts1 Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, we would be meeting soon after we all get back, and I will definitely ask for more options.

I suppose that a murder seems like an extreme reaction, but it is not outside the realm of possibilities.
Oh life! sometimes we get curveballs. 🙂

I think that your school should be able to work out something reasonable for your for your own safety (like someone else said, moving out of town and commuting from another town), but I'd say if they can't, asking for a transfer isn't a bad option.

 

[nyc1990]

This is a really exceptional/interesting case. I really think we need opinions of @LizzyM / @Goro to help the OP a bit.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

The big issue everyone is missing is that it isn't really about the OP in the first place (with the exception of safety, but if that is the concern OP should quit and probably not do AC in the same place). It's about the students, the school, and the community. The real issues comes down to if the OP can be successful in teaching in such challenging circumstances. The OP should tell the school about the issues and then let them decide if the OP is needed at the school, or if it would be better for him/her to leave considering the OP's concerns (particularly in regards to safety). Maybe TFA or his/her supervisor can give support to help them be successful, but if the OP legitimately does not feel prepared/skilled/confident, and the school staff agree, he/she should probably quit at the request of the school (in reality OP should get more training but that isn't how TFA works, and the OP doesn't even want to be a teacher so it's not a big loss for the teaching profession).

You wouldn't perform a surgery by yourself after a crash course in appendectomies, right? And if someone asked you to, I hope you would say no.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

Also, any chance you can just get transfered to a new school in a different community?

 

[LizzyM]

OP, this will not have an impact on your admission to medical school. You are not the first TFA /pre-med who has left mid-year for safety reasons and you won't be the last. Med school adcoms know that this happens in both rural and urban schools and you can certainly explain your story and what you have chosen to do in those 18 mos that you had expected to be in your TFA position.
Find out your options but rest assured that getting out will not jeopardize your med school application!

 

[Goro]

Your safety and well being are vastly more important than what any AdCom member thinks about you.

That said, I can't see how anyone would hold this against you. I wouldn't even address it in any PS or secondary, and only if asked about it at interviews. I have a high resepct for TFA and Americorps, so you're going from one high level service corps to another one.

So get away from there right now! And yes, file against that student too. A hate crime is, well, a crime!


My question is: how would getting reassigned to Americorps look to med-school adcoms? Would this be detrimental to my applications? Does anyone have experience in the matter?

 

[ace12345]

Jumping in late, but have you spoken to TFA about this incident? I am very confident they will support you and help you find alternatives to dropping out.

 

[ACoe4014]

I'm a TFA in my second year and have been accepted to my state school where I teach as well. @morningplayer, I'm just curious as to how you resolved the situation.