California Allergies

I may or may not be allergic to big city living. At first, I thought God was just punishing me for leaving the Dixie...but it may actually be the city itself that is rejecting me. I woke up this morning with a wicked (my new east coast word) cramp from my neck all the way down my back extending into my left forearm. Sleeping on that cinder block of a dorm mattress forced me to spend the entire day turning full-frontal to anyone who spoke to me from any other direction than north. And any questionable mannerism makes friend-finding slightly more difficult. As the 13 hour day pressed on, my head got hotter, my body got colder, and it became increasingly hard to sit still for hours learning about the "tragically avoidable achievement gap." So, I'm sitting here in my dorm room, the first real day of training behind me, feeling like a sack of shit and praying I wake up with the same level of enthusiasm all these west coasters seem to have.

I pray I'm on my game because tomorrow is a big day. I hesitate publicizing this because it puts me at the risk of sounding like a huge failure, but if you cared enough to read this, I'm betting you care about me enough not to judge. Starting at 8am, there will be a "Placement Fair" located on campus for all of the non-local corps members to find a job. It's hard to explain, so I'll sum it up the best I can. TFA sends our resumes to charter schools in the area who have staff openings that may or may not coincide with our teaching credential. Tomorrow, the principals of these low-income, under-performing schools will sit in a room across from us hopeful teachers, review our resumes, and request interviews with their chosen candidates...these interviews happen immediately. I compare it to the speed dating of job interviews. These administrators talk to the candidate for 5, 10, 60 minutes then, on the spot, either offer the position or move on to the next TFAer. Intense. The people in charge made it clear that, more often than not, corps members do not get placed in these job fairs--it's more for interview experience than actually securing a job. So, don't get your hopes up..I'm trying not to..

On a more age-appropriate note, CLAY AND LISA ARE ENGAGED!! Some of you might know her as "Cali", a nickname she got after moving from California to Virginia for school, but since I am now a Californian, I refuse to call her by anything other than Lisa.. All that to say, she is getting married to my best friend's brother, who happens to be a great friend of mine himself, and I couldn't be happier about his choice. I love you two! And it's news like this that makes me question leaving such a warm, comfortable life in KY, surrounded by my friends and family who accept and appreciate my admittedly weird quirks... But, I'm gonna keep on trucking because I'm here for a purpose bigger than me (its very hippie, crunchy granola of my, but it's 100% true)

Ok, I really should be prepping for this interview and administering over-the-counters intravenously. Goodnight.