An Ode to…

Friends,

Once again I find my life in transition, leaving what was temporarily home for a new, unfamiliar destination.  Each time my life is uprooted I am reminded of the many aspects of life I take for granted.  If there comes a time when I choose settle in one location, my hope is that this recurring lesson will help me fully appreciate what I might have.

Leaving Phoenix was like those near death experiences where people describe their lives as flashing before their eyes.  As I pulled away from the city, every site I passed brought forth a memory from the past two years.  It took long enough to set in, but in this moment I felt the finality of my departure and it upset me considerably.

I never imagined it would be so difficult to leave Phoenix.  Many of my readers may not realize this, because I try not to use this blog as a whining post, but transitioning to anew city while learning the art of teaching was an incredibly challenging experience.  As ambitious and driven as I am, there were times when the stress drove me the brink of quitting.

There is still a coffee shop I frequented during my first year teaching that turns my stomach every time I walk through its doors.  I suppose I logged too many hours there lesson planning and fretting over the state of my classroom.  For the longest time this negative energy permeated all I associated with teaching, whether people or physical places.

However, four days ago, when I saw the Phoenix’s humble skyline fade in my rearview mirror, I realized how lucky I was to have such an experience.  I grew in more ways imaginable because I was stretch beyond what I thought I could bear.  At times, I did not handle the stress with the grace I should have, but we all learn from these mistakes.  It is maturation.

Most of all I recognize the quality people I was surrounded with during my time in Teach for America.  I have no doubt that one day many of their names will be prefaced with phrases such as “Chief Justice” or “President” or, most important of all, “Word Trivia Champion”.  I can only hope that they regard our friendship with at least half the value I place on it – at least enough to let me ride their coattails.

I suppose this post serves as a simple thank you to those who invested the time and energy getting to know me over the course of two years.  I could never express the full appreciation I have for those who entrusted me with a piece of their lives and who, in return, walked with me through the fears and growing pains associated with new places and new adventures.

May the good memories serve us with a smile when needed and the difficult times be reflected upon and learned from.  I wish you all the best in whatever the future may hold.

Until we are meet again,

Taylor

Another New Beginning’s End

My two year commitment to Teach for America has finally, fully and officially, come to an end.  I have been granted a Masters of Education and the capstone of my two years at Phoenix Advantage Charter School was that sixty-four percent of my seventh graders passed the state test.  This was about a 125% increase in student passage rates from the previous year.  As much as a disagree with the excessive high-stakes testing that happens in this country, I have to say it feels good to have tangible validation of my late nights and long hours.

Within hours of school ending, I found myself on a plane for Austin, Texas to watch one of my college friends, Eileen, get married.  It was a beautiful wedding, and I greatly appreciated the chance to spend time with old friends.  During my two years in Phoenix I seem to have forgotten the potency of Texas humidity.  However, I did not let the buggy evenings ruin my late night porch chats with friends.

Almost as soon as I arrived, I boarded a plane to head back to Phoenix.  I needed to have my classroom cleaned out by Monday.  Walking out of the once lively and colorful room was certainly a strange feeling.  Having nothing to do during the day has been even stranger.  At first I lounged with a clear conscious, soaking up every second of relaxation.  I doled out my responsibilities over the course of the week so that nothing would be taken care of too quickly.  What I found is that too much free time quickly leads to boredom and boredom to complacency and complacency to television.

In the midst of trying to kick my T.V. habit, I have managed to read several great books and watch several great movies.  For those of you who have not tackled Steinbeck’s East of Eden, it is a must.  In this incredible story, Steinbeck explores the ultimate nature of humans.  He constructs a beautiful epic of our propensity to do Good and Evil as well as our volition over the direction our lives take.  As far as movies, I highly recommend Woody Allen’s newest Midnight in Paris starring Owen Wilson and a myriad of other incredible guests.  I do not want to give away the many surprises of this uplifting flick, but I can promise it is aesthetically and aurally pleasing, comical, and has an underlying moral worthy of our consideration.

Several weeks ago, I officially heard back from the Instituteof International Educationthat I had received the Fulbright ETA grant to Turkey.  Needless to say, I am incredibly excited for this opportunity to travel and continue teaching in a different capacity.  I have no details other than the fact that the grant is mine for the taking.  Within the next several weeks, the IIE should communicate to me where and what my specific placement is.  The Turkish Education Board is certainly taking their time working out these logistics.  However, I am simply relieved to know I am on board.  As far as I know, I do not have to leave the country until early September.  Currently, I am still in Phoenix until around July 5^th.  I want to have plenty of time to visit friends and family throughout Texas before my next venture.  If you will be in the state, please let me know.

I Have Discovered Espresso

It has been entirely too long since my last blog post.  Between teaching and graduate school it always seems as though I am squeezing as many hours out of the day as possible.  Unfortunately this means that when I do find some downtime, I never want to do anything requiring more energy than say staring at the wall.  However, this weekend is different because I have discovered espresso.  I have always been a coffee drinker, but for some reason I never dabbled with this magical substance.  Somehow my work was completed faster and my energy was maintained, freeing up a little time for this update.  There is much to cover, so I figure I will hit the highlights.

School is going well.  My seventh graders are simply joyous to teach.  They are hard working and focused during class.  They start my day off on the right foot, allowing me to store up all my energy and meanness for the eighth graders who still struggle with simple tasks like not being a group of sociopaths.  When I am with my seventh graders I truly enjoy teaching.  Graduate school has grown more difficult, though more interesting.  I am in an American Education Policy class.  My professor won the Republican primary for a seat in the House.  She is really interesting and has given us fascinating materials to study for class.

My birthday was quite fun.  A group of friends and I traveled north over Labor Day to camp for a weekend.  The conversation was good and the scenery was beautiful.  It was nice to get away from the city and the teaching cloud which pervades my thoughts.  It has been awhile since I have seen stars that cover the night sky.

As some of you heard, we lost Buster several weeks ago.  Although we are quite sad, he lived a long and adventure filled life.  He made such a mark on our family and provided so many hilarious memories that I am sure he will live on for some time. 

I have started to line up some opportunities in case I want to shift the direction of my life at the end of this year.  I am not necessarily set on leaving teaching yet, but I like the idea of having choices, especially considering that I am still young and mobile.  Tomorrow I have an interview for a Fulbright Teaching Assistantship to Turkey.  The application I pieced together was pretty solid.  This combined with my teaching and international experience, I believe, makes me a pretty good candidate.  If awarded the grant I would spend the next year teaching English in Turkey.  All expenses would be paid for and I would get quite an interesting cultural experience.

This Thursday I leave for a trip back to Texas.  Unfortunately I will not be making it up to Dallas.  All of my time will be spent in Austin attending ACL, which has a pretty good line up this year.  I am really looking forward to seeing Norah Jones who has been on my must see list for some time now.  Muse will also be headlining Saturday night and they are always put on a great show.  If you are in the area please feel free to give me a call.  I would love to meet up on Monday after the festival is over.

That pretty much sums up my happenings.  I am going to make a goal to do a better job of keeping this site updated. 

Taylor