TFA- Day 2

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 sure my kids know that, even though these very real obstacles exist for them, there can be no excuses for anything less than excellence. Because good isn't good enough. We have to be excellent. Good doesn't graduate high school- excellent does. Good doesn't go to college- excellent does. Good doesn't achieve dreams- excellent does. No matter what the systems have told them, no matter what the world has told them, they are capable of excellence. So, that is what's to be expected. 

I won't see the change in two years. I may not even see the change in my lifetime- because the problems are so huge. But, if I can help take things just one step from where they are to where they should be, all the hard work is completely worth it. It's not going to be easy. But, I'm blessed to be a TFA Corps member because although it will be hard, I won't be doing it alone.

Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom. 

Ecclesiastes 9:10