Notes of a TFA-er: Induction

HOLY CANNOLI. It's only been about 36 hours of my Teach For America Induction and it feels like its been a month. I moved into the Illinois Institute of Technology along with a portion of my stuff. Remember the freshly cleaned room? It was so helpful for a quick packing experience! (Note to self: Clean your room more often.) So far my roommate is really chill, I've met a million new people, but I've learned quite a few things as well. Here's a list of stuff I've learned already as a student of the Teach For America experience. And here I thought I was going to be a teacher. Induction is Orientation, so here's what it's taught me so far.

#1. TFA knows how to rope me in. They put Sonic the Hedgehog on my door nametag and brought me back to my days of playing SEGA Genesis with my brothers.

#2. Hauling a carload of your possessions up four floors of stairs by yourself in a building with no elevator is not all that pleasant. 

#3. Running along the lake just after sunrise is a gorgeous sight in Chicago. 

#4. TFA likes to have acronyms. Already I've heard: MTLD, ED, TTL, CM, CS, and others. Betcha they don't know this acronym: LSHMSFOAIDMT. (Laughing so hard my sombrero falls off and I drop my taco.)

#5. There is DEFINITELY a Teach For America "lingo." When someone starts saying "setting students on a different trajectory," "model of teaching as leadership," or "assimilating into the community," then you know they are drinking the kool-aid. I've heard all of these phrases and others more than I can even count already. I'll have to make a TFA jargon list so newbies next year are ready. 

#6. I was spoiled rotten with my dorms at Trinity. Community bathrooms? Tiny outdated rooms? No elevators? Say whaaa? (but f'real, it's not bad, just no Alumni Hall, that's all.)

#7. I need to buy snacks and candy, STAT. Sitting in this room between meals is making me think of the Hunger Games, going full-out Katniss on this campus, and shooting a squirrel for extra sustenance. 

#8. I'm actually not as crazily extroverted as I thought I was. Not compared to these people. Holy crap. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm almost tired of talking. After introducing myself, repeating that yes, it's true, my hometown has less than 2,000 people, and explaining that yes, it's true, Trinity Christian College does exist, about 465,212,392 times today, I'm ready to just read a book or stare at a wall with no interaction. I can't even believe this is a feeling I am really feeling. Too many people? Too much talking? Anna Gesch? Yes, even I have limits. 

#9. I missed the whole "join a sorority" memo. Errybody up in hurr is in Greek Life. I figure I have my own life, I don't need the Greeks to find friends for me, right? 

#10. This is going to be a funky adventure. The atmosphere is almost electric sometimes...you get this idea that you can actually impact the world in some small yet important way. It gives me the chills sometimes when we all get together and talk about the possibilities. 

#11. Always pack duct tape whenever you go anywhere. It's just something you should do.