As you may have guessed, life has been pretty insane since the last post, mostly in a good way, but a little insanity goes a long way. In big and important news, I now know where I'll be working in New Haven next year! I have accepted a position with St. Martin de Porres Academy, a charter school for grades 5-8 that works with very small classes (8-12 kids in a room!) of low-income, at-risk kids. I had a chance to visit both the school and the church where I'll be living a few weeks back, and am insanely excited about both. I went into my interview day at St. Martin's with a ton of reservations (most of them concerning my complete lack of qualifications to work in an academic setting), and was consistently won over by what I saw. I made my first impression of the place at breakfast (they provide 2 meals a day), when I was cordially greeted by a group of unbelievably polite 7th grade girls, who pulled up a chair for me at their table and invited me - a perfect stranger - to join them. Having spent quite a bit of time working with that particular adolescent demographic, and NEVER having experienced such pre-dawn politeness, I was rather blown away. For a group of kids that (I gather) comes from some pretty rough backgrounds, I found them to be consistently polite, engaged, and motivated. It really made me believe in the value of education all over again.
I spent the remainder of my day visiting classes, chatting with teachers (they draw on young, largely inexperienced Americorps talent, which is an interesting and provocative philosophy), and trying to get my interviewers to give me an actual job description. Details are still hazy, but I'm finally satisfied by the picture I got: long story short, I will be working in the administration, taking pressure off the overworked school president, and doing anything that needs to be done (because the school is so small, only 80-some students, everyone kind of does everything). But, the really cool bit, is that I'll be running graduate support programs - helping 8th graders (and their parents) apply to high schools, and helping recent graduates get access to tutoring and whatever other academic support they need. Needless to say, I'm nowhere near 100% sure of what I'll be doing, but I am quite positive that I will a) have lots of direct contact with people, and b) not be bored. And, really, that's all I care about.
It was an interesting and, on the whole, positive experience to get a glimpse of what my life will look like next year (especially given that I came to New York knowing no one and nothing). I've now met most of our program leaders in person, seen my worksite, and visited my future home - a 2-story rectory with TONS of space (exactly how the bedrooms will be divided amongst the 8 of us is TBD), multiple bathrooms, and a gorgeous kitchen. Considering that I am currently working with 2 largely non-functioning electric burners and a toaster oven, the thought of a convection oven and a 6 burner gas stove makes me drool in anticipation. And: in house laundry facilities. Excited.
On the whole, I loved New Haven. Which, considering that the almost universal reaction when I tell people where I'm going next year is one of horror, came as something of a surprise to me. Granted, my enthusiasm for the city can largely be chalked up to the simple reality that I'll be living in a nice part of it. I fully acknowledge that a large percentage of NH is not somewhere one generally wants to be. But the good parts? Are AMAZING. Yale = Oxford. The architecture is stunning, and there are tons and tons of church bells ringing all the time. Methinks I will be quite content with my new digs.
It's a woefully incomplete update, but it will have to do for now, as real life is beckoning to me. Just thought I'd keep everyone posted on the major developments of my life at the very least, and hopefully some more reflective material will arrive on the blogosphere sometime in the near future.
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