Frank

On Tuesday I finished my final interview with Teach for America, the national corps of recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban or rural schools. If accepted into the program, I would attend an intense training program in June and begin teaching in the fall.

The process of applying to join the 2008 corps has been inspiring, but a lot of hard work. After submitting my application online in September, a TFA alumna conducted a phone interview and finally the day interview on Tuesday required a five-minute sample lesson and other problem solving activities with the 11 other applicants interviewing on that day. In the afternoon, I returned to the interview site to complete a one-on-one interview with one of the interviewers from the morning session. Interviewers look for applicants who have not just demonstrated past achievement, but who have also persevered in the face of challenges, so when she asked me a question about difficulties I've encountered, my mind was filled with my experiences as a Big Sister in a Lawrence elementary school.

As with most volunteer experiences, volunteering as a Big in School with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program brought a full array of emotions after working with my Little last school year. I was interested in the program because I wanted one-on-one interaction with a local student that needed extra motivation or a positive influence and I knew Big Brothers/Big Sisters would be a perfect match.

From the first time I met with my Little, a fifth grader at Schwegler Elementary School, I knew it would be a challenge to form a relationship with her. She had poor social skills and few friends; she simply was a quiet girl that had trouble fitting in and making friends at school. Every Friday I would walk 2.5 miles to her school and we would sit in near silence while eating our homemade lunches. I would attempt to ask her questions about her family or school, but she would only roll her eyes and mutter a single-word response. She barely acknowledged my presence and even seemed reluctant of letting me help her with her homework in the classroom after lunch. Because my Little came from a non-traditional family where both parents work blue-collar jobs, I knew she had a very different childhood than the one I had. She walked to school from her family's small trailer home where she lives with her father, step-mother, and two half-sisters. Regardless, I felt like I have the capability to make her life a little smoother by giving her the attention she deserves and help she needs.

I talked with my Case Manager at the BB/BS office and she offered some ideas to help make my time with my Little go more pleasantly. But the next few visits with her did not ease my apprehension, especially when she rejected the Halloween candy I brought her as a gift. Again, I turned to the Case Manager for help, and this time she offered to let me close the case and cease meeting with my Little. The offer was a little tempting. I often returned home after our meetings upset that I could not make a fifth grader like me, but I declined the Case Manager's offer. I had to reevaluate my role in my Little's life. I was not there to make her do her homework, or even make her like school. All I needed to be, I decided, was a solid figure in her life; I figured she did not have many of those that stuck around for long. I altered the approach I use with her: instead of eating in the cafeteria, we eat in the classroom, we began sharing the conversation (instead of me firing questions at her), and we did more fun, not exactly academic, work in the classroom after lunch. Needless to say, it took compromise on both our parts to establish a good relationship with each other. There were still days that challenged my patience but we were doing better as a pair.

I felt proud when I relayed this story to the Teach for America interviewer. Not every success has come easy to me, and this volunteer experience was one of the most frustrating yet. However, if accepted into TFA I'm betting that all my days as a teacher will have a frustrating moment in them, so it is a good thing I learned to work with my Little prior to being in my own classroom. Now I just have to wait until November 6 to heard the verdict!