Cayla Meets World

Ms. Hicks. That's my name now. So weird. If I had any fleeting thoughts about throwing in the towel on this whole thing (which I did, because this has been the hardest thing I've ever done), they were gone last Monday morning when I met my summer school students. My class is made up of six of the sweetest, most brilliant rising First Graders. I have absolutely fallen in love with them. They make all of this hard work totally worth it! My schedule has been insane- it seems worse than when I was in college, even. My day starts at 4:30am. I have to be down to breakfast by 5:30am so that I can be on the bus to head to school by 6:00am. During and after school we have to attend different Professional Development sessions lasting as late as 8:30. Then of course, there are lesson plans due everyday, data to input everyday. And I try to go to the gym for 30 minutes. Last week I didn't get to bed before 1am. I spent this past weekend getting ahead of the game so that I can have ...

I've been here a little over a week now! This thought is completely crazy to me! I don't know if it's because my days have been crammed with session after session and my brain is overflowing with information. Or because I'm here, on a college campus with a bunch of strangers which forces us to build relationships faster than normal. It's probably a combination of the two, with other ingredients mixed in. But, it definitely feels like I've been here longer than a week- it feels more like I've been here a couple months.  I found out this week that I will not be teaching 4th Grade Math as I originally thought. Instead I will be teaching Kindergarten. And I am stoked!!! In all honesty, it took me a minute to process this information and how I felt about the change. Kindergartners are reliant on the teacher for everything it seems. But, I got to talk to my TFA Advisor (another Kindergarten teacher at the school where I'll be working this fall- Hello new be...

The Agenda Update: I can't get over how welcoming the people of the Delta have been to me and my fellow TFA Corps Members. On Friday night, the people of Cleveland threw us a very nice welcoming party. Complete with great food and lemonade served in mason jars. It was great getting to know some of the community members and to know that they're excited that we're here. Saturday, I went on an excursion to a couple of cities in the Delta- Leland and Greenville. Leland has, what has been one of my favorite things so far: The Birthplace of the Frog, an Exhibit of Jim Henson's Delta Boyhood. It was so neat to see some of the history and story behind Jim Henson and Kermit. In Greenville, we visited the 1927 Flood Museum. Read the story here . It was fascinating to see this piece of history (also fascinating to reflect on that visit today as it rained and rained and rained- I thought we were going to have to seek high ground on the levy). We also went to an Art Gallery a...

Today was the first day that I got to go outside of Delta State University's campus and see some communities in the Delta Region. A school bus (the aisles of which seemed way smaller now than when I was a kid) took us first to the town of Sumner and then to Tutwiler. Sumner is known for the Emmett Till murder and trial. In August of 1955, Emmett Till, a 14-year old black boy was kidnapped from his uncle's house in the middle of the night by at least two white men. He was badly beaten, killed, and his body thrown into the Tallahatchi River. He had been accused of whistling at a white woman. His body was later found in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The two white men were indicted in the city of Sumner for the crime of murder. The men were tried for this charge and were acquitted by an all-white, all-male jury after deliberating for just over an hour. Quite soon after their acquittal, the two men admitted to the crime during a magazine interview.  This tragic case human...

Well, today was a huge improvement over yesterday. At least emotionally. It's beginning to sink in. This is my life. I live in Mississippi now. I will be teaching these kids and getting involved in this community. The more Corps Members I meet, the more excited I get. This really is a chance of a lifetime. Today may have been less emotional. But it was just as exhausting. Starting at 8am, we were in sessions, all day long (including during lunch). These large and small group sessions focused on the work that we will be doing here in the Delta and how it relates to race and class inequality, especially when these inequalities are structural. They are embedded into our school systems and communities. As uncomfortable as they are for me (a middle-class, white, college graduate) to talk about, these are very real problems that my students face.  The fact of the matter is; there are wonderful kids caught in awful systems. It's my responsibility as a TFA Corps Member to make s...

I really thought I was ready. I'd said goodbye (more than once to most people), I'd packed, I'd at least tried to prepare mentally. I spent the last month of my time in Georgia doing my best to cherish every moment with every important person in my life. This being the way we should live everyday, no? But, that's another blog for another time. But here I was: goodbyes said, car packed, waiting for the Starbucks barista to hand me my grande skinny caramel latte. I was about to be on my way. How exciting!  And terrifying...oh yea. Terrifying. I had no sooner hit I-75 North when the tears started flowing. I'm moving- not visiting, moving- to another state, 8 hours away from my mom and dad. I've never NOT lived with one of them. I don't know another soul in this place! What the heck is wrong with me?!? And then my phone starts going off with "I miss you" messages from the students of my church in McDonough. How was I going to move away from these k...