Teach For America

I have recently decided to apply to Teach For America (T4A). Sadly, I won't be able to apply until next fall because I won't be graduating until next December. Man I wish I had taken the second chemistry directly after the first one, but hey, I can't change the past so I'll have to roll with it.

I'm going to apply for a summer internship with the NIH. I'm going to apply to the NIDDK diabetes research in Arizona on the Pima Indian Reservation. My friend worked for them a couple summers ago and thought it was a great experience. I'm hoping I can get that. It'd be a lot of fun and very informative.

I've just finished my volunteer application for the Safe House for Victims of Domestic Violence. I want to start volunteering with children mostly. I love working with kids, and I really feel like I could make at least one child feel special. Of course, I'm not sure what they'll need me to do, but I'm willing to do anything. I just really need to feel like I'm serving a purpose right now.

I'm hoping both of these experiences help inform the way I relate to my students in T4A. When I apply to T4A, I'm going to request to be sent to South Dakota. You can be placed on one of two different Reservations, Pine Ridge or Rosebud. Diabetes, alcoholism, and domestic violence are all big issues on the Rez. I'm hoping that everything I do in the next year and a half will help me to better understand the obstacles the children I'll be teaching have faced.

I've gotten really excited about this opportunity. It's apparently extremely competitive, but I think I have a pretty decent chance at getting picked. I know sheer passion isn't enough, but I've got boat loads of it and plenty of leadership/volunteer experience, which seems to be what they want out of their teachers.

When I'm done with T4A, I'm going to apply to med school. I want to work in a rural community as a family practice doctor (hopefully one of the Rez's I'll work for in T4A). I'll probably end up switching to policy making, but I know that I need to be in the thick of things before I can really know how and why things need to change and how feasible certain changes are. The system is messed up, but the anthropologist in me says that you have to know what's wrong and what people think of it before you can actually make a lasting, positive contribution.