What do you want to be when you grow up?

I know it has been a long time since I've blogged, but believe me when I say "I've been busy," it's a dramatic understatement.

After spending 8 months with my 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students I have more adorable (and horrifying) anecdotes than I can possibly recount. I'd like to think I've taught them a few things, and I know they've certainly taught me a lot about things I didn't expect. I've learned west coast slang terms (I'm "hecka bougie Ms. Peters"... look it up on urbandictionary.com), I've learned how to conjure patience from thin air, but most of all I've learned the meaning of the term "unconditional love."

I love my students with all of my heart, even the crazy ones who do things that most of the people reading this would be appalled by: swearing in my face, running away from teachers, stealing things (more specifically my iPhone at the beginning of the year)... But the victories - sometimes small, sometimes larger - are more meaningful than any awards I received in college.

At the beginning of the year I asked some of the 8th graders in my after school homework center what they wanted to be when they grew up. I got one or two students to answer, but the majority of the classroom responded with "I dunno," and "I don't care." This was appalling to me -- although I didn't necessarily know what or who I wanted to be when I grew up at the age of 13, I certainly had ideas. I distinctly remember a year when I wanted to be a Rockette and a politician, and maybe a librarian on the side. Well, after working with these students day in and day out, I am proud to say that I asked this question again a few days ago and was greeted with a ginormous surprise: I now had pediatricians, lawyers, engineers, architects, business owners, chefs, and members of the special forces in the Army!

I'm going to post a few links to pages that include blog posts I've written for City Year as well as a bio from the Wheaton website that details a little more about what I'll be doing next year.

For those of you who don't know, I'm going to be joining Teach for America, an organization that is sort of similar to City Year, except that I will be a full-fledged teacher in the state of California next year. This is an exciting step for me in terms of my professional goals as well as yet another opportunity for me to effect positive social change through education (and hopefully the arts, too). This year has been an incredible experience and I can't wait to dive even further into this crazy education system.

Although I haven't found out my exact school placement yet, I know that I will be teaching Special Education, most likely in a middle school in the same area of San Jose that I'm working in this year. I'm psyched for the opportunity, and although I'll miss my students from this year I can't wait to get started on this next adventure!