teach for america

[saiyagirl]

anybody else thinking about this? www.teachforamerica.org

i've been dying to participate in teach for america...i know i'll never have a chance to do this once i start med school. so i'm thinking of deferring two years (some schools will allow as an "extraordinary circumstance") or simply reapplying two years from now.

BUT, my brother (a doctor) tells me it isn't worth it money wise (two years of future income i'll be forgoing). for me it isn't about the money.

my parents are freaked that i want to do this since "they're getting old" and don't want me "wasting my life pursuing something i don't plan to do for the rest of my life." i guess it's also a cultural thing; my parents want to see me settled and married, with babies before too long...though i'm in no rush to do all this, i do realize that if i participate in TFA, and stick to my "no babies until after residency" rule, i'll be 32 or something before i THINK about having kids. is this bad? am i thinking too much?

of course this is contingent on whether i get into TFA or not, and it is extremley competitive.

anyway i just wanted to hear some testimonials from anyone who has knowledge or experience with TFA. also, has anyne had children during residency? how the hell did you do it?

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[Mike59]

Originally posted by saiyagirl
anybody else thinking about this? www.teachforamerica.org

i've been dying to participate in teach for america...i know i'll never have a chance to do this once i start med school. so i'm thinking of deferring two years (some schools will allow as an "extraordinary circumstance") or simply reapplying two years from now.

BUT, my brother (a doctor) tells me it isn't worth it money wise (two years of future income i'll be forgoing). for me it isn't about the money.

my parents are freaked that i want to do this since "they're getting old" and don't want me "wasting my life pursuing something i don't plan to do for the rest of my life." i guess it's also a cultural thing; my parents want to see me settled and married, with babies before too long...

of course this is contingent on whether i get into TFA or not, and it is extremley competitive.

anyway i just wanted to hear some testimonials from anyone who has knowledge or experience with TFA.

You're your own woman (Your parents need to chill about the kids/marriage, especially if you plan on working as a physician - PACE YOURSELF). If there are any lengthy activities you want to pursue, you MUST get them out of the way before medical school or you will regret it. Handle your business.

 

[Bob Dole]

I'd be careful...Teach for America, founded by a Princeton graduate, has gotten some bad reviews in the past...
You might want to consider some other program if you really want to do some teaching...

Check this out:
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2001/01/22/news/2184.shtml

 

[cg1]

You're still young, so I'd go for it. Some women don't have kids until their late thirties (or even their early forties). Not that it's better to have kids when you're that old (relatively old), but it's possible....

Originally posted by saiyagirl
anybody else thinking about this? www.teachforamerica.org

i've been dying to participate in teach for america...i know i'll never have a chance to do this once i start med school. so i'm thinking of deferring two years (some schools will allow as an "extraordinary circumstance") or simply reapplying two years from now.

BUT, my brother (a doctor) tells me it isn't worth it money wise (two years of future income i'll be forgoing). for me it isn't about the money.

my parents are freaked that i want to do this since "they're getting old" and don't want me "wasting my life pursuing something i don't plan to do for the rest of my life." i guess it's also a cultural thing; my parents want to see me settled and married, with babies before too long...though i'm in no rush to do all this, i do realize that if i participate in TFA, and stick to my "no babies until after residency" rule, i'll be 32 or something before i THINK about having kids. is this bad? am i thinking too much?

of course this is contingent on whether i get into TFA or not, and it is extremley competitive.

anyway i just wanted to hear some testimonials from anyone who has knowledge or experience with TFA. also, has anyne had children during residency? how the hell did you do it?

 

[tonem]

For what it's worth, I interviewed a Teacforamerica veteran a couple of years ago. I thought it was pretty impressive

 

[Katie]

We have a guy in our class who worked in Houston and Pheonix for Teach for America and from what I hear he loved it. My mom was nearly 35 when I was born and she had absolutely no problems with the pregnancy or labor. And a few years before I was conceived she had had a fibroid tumor the size of a grapefruit removed from her uterus. As to whether I turned out OK, that's a matter of opinion but.. I say go for it; you never know about childbearing.. you could always take a year off in med school to have a baby, and there are no guarentees that you or your husband will be fertile (just like there are no guarentees in life..) good luck.

 

[HoMuffin]

Go for it!! Teach For America sounds like a great program

 

[LoneCoyote]

saiyagirl I PM-ed you about this...

I know three people who have either done Teach for America or are currently doing it. I think the overall impression of it from what they have told me is mixed. It seems to be that it can be a very tough experience, especially from Sept - Dec of the first year. The training doesn't necessarily prepare you for teaching... you have to learn on the job. In the end it can be very rewarding experience. Of course, a lot of it depends on where you get assigned, what you're teaching, and how much support your school provides you with. If the support is good it seems to go pretty well. I think it is definitely worth checking out if you are at all interested in teaching. New York City also has a program where you are placed in a high-need school and they pay for you to do your Master's at night, and you get mentoring and workshops to help you get started. I think this program might be more for people who want a teaching career not people who want med school in a year or two but it might be worth checking out.

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

That souds like a cool program. I think it'd be fun to do since I eventually want to teach, but after I finish med school and am some 60 year old that can tell some great stories from the hospital front lines.

It's your life do what you want. It took me a while to convince my parents to go out of state, since I needed to get out of my hometown. They resisted, but eventually I went my own way and got what I want in the end.

 

[merlin17]

I also know a number of people who started TFA this year. I would agree that they show mixed sentiments. I would seriously think about why you want to do TFA before you start. Do you just want to do some teaching? Or do you really want to go teach at one of the hardest teaching jobs imaginable. Teaching is not an easy career, especially the first few years when you are designing lesson plans and such. From what I gather, TFA puts its teachers in the most difficult classrooms in the country with very little training. They take new graduates who want to "make a difference" and basically feed them to the wolves and let them sink or swim in classrooms that desperately need experienced professionals and not people without any experience. A lot of people find this type of challenge to be very rewarding at the end, and if you are that type of person, it might be for you. If you are just looking for a teaching experience and a break in your education, i might try finding a job in a private school where the support as a young teacher will be better, and students easier to teach, and the classes much smaller. I only say this because the people I know doing TFA say that so far (6 months in) they don't feel like they have actually taught anyone anything, and they are just barely beginning to feel like they have control of their class. These are also people who had a ton of teaching experience before they started. Good luck and happy new year =)

 

[TroutBum]

Hey Saiyagirl, I would echo what some others have already mentioned--I've heard extremely mixed reviews about TFA, the major complaing being that you will have extremely little freedom in terms of what you can do in the classroom, curriculum-wise and whatnot. Then again, some people I've spoken to loved it. Do you know for sure you want to teach? If not, find out by maybe trying to teach something smaller-scale, or tutoring for a while, or something like that to get your feet wet. Teaching's not for everybody.

I applied to TFA because I know I really enjoy teaching, but ended up declining my interview because I thought I would rather do the Peace Corps instead if I was going to take off for two years. In the end, I declined my Peace Corps offer too because I realized that in the end I didn't want to wait several years after all (and I was broke ).

Look into it as much as you can and get as many opinions as you can. It does sound like a wonderful program if things work out right, but just be sure it's something you'd really like to do, and not just a passing idea. Good luck!

 

[woolie]

As for having children as an older mom, one of my friends just had twins and will turn 43 next week so there you are. I say a good mom is a happy mom and that means doing what you need and want to do - as much as you can; kids are flexible and workable and especially these days women are rewritting how we live our lives and it's really up to us.

I second the cautionary voices about TFA; I taught for 2 years in 2 different schools and the first year I was completely on my own with no support at all and it was awful, and so I left. The second year I was incredibly well supported by the principal, staff and parents and what a HUGE difference. I loved it and the students learned ALOT of Latin and French, too so everyone benefited ...

 

[lalalala]

there's gonna be a documentary piece about teach for america tonight on CNN at 10 pm, if anyone is interested.

 

[athena21]

saiyagirl--did u check out the documentary? they're following an NU alumnus throughout her experience in LA. she's a good friend of mine--let me know if you want to be put in touch with her...