Live a Life Less Ordinary

Two weeks ago life was pretty easy. I was sitting on top of the world as a college graduate, waking up late in a pretty great apartment with some REALLY great friends. Two weeks ago I was considerably carefree, living in that wonderful limbo between college and the Real World where, I'm a little ashamed to admit, my mother still did my laundry and yet I had the freedom to do as I wanted when I wanted. Two weeks ago seems like 20 years ago.

On June 8th, I moved to Houston, Texas to begin my 2 year commitment with Teach for America. I was not unaware of the great challenge this commitment would be. In fact, I was VERY aware...so aware that I have had anxiety about the infamous "Institute" since January when I was accepted into the program. I also have never underestimated or been unaware of how very blessed I have been all of my life. That "life" that I nostalgically lamented over above is a life that I wouldn't trade for any other. And though most of you are probably familiar with my self-depricating jokes, I consider myself a very lucky young woman to have been raised by a stable, faithful, and endlessly entertaining family and have been surrounded by a similarly loyal and wonderful group of friends (that I mostly consider an extension of my crazy family).

Regardless, I often wonder what I did to deserve the charmed life I was given. Sometimes, and it seems so weird to admit this in such an impersonal public forum, but sometimes, I feel very unworthy. I think for me, the last 4 years have been a huge growing-up process, (well, in some ways...) and I have come to realize that I have taken many things for granted: my faith, friendships, people in my family, and most pertinent for the purposes of this blog, my education. I'm not going to go off on a soap-box regarding the glaringly harsh statistics about the achievement gap in the United States, although the past week has provided me with enough heartbreaking statistics to talk for a lifetime, but I do wholeheartedly see and believe now that education, something that was "a given" for me, is a right not afforded to all and something must be done to change that. Immediately. So, for me, Teach For America is my opportunity to be apart of that change, it is a chance to stop taking things for granted, to work relentlessly to build a life as blessed as mine for the kids I teach, to make myself at least a little bit more deserving of the life I life. I will be serving (and I say serving here because I do believe this to be a sort-of mission work) at KIPP Sharp Elementary School in the fall as a Bilingual Kindergarten teacher, and it will be my most proud mission to prove to those kids (the class of 2023!) that they are SO worthy of a quality education.

It goes without saying for those of you that know me, but I am a word person. I love quotes and can be pretty easily gripped by a fantastic line in a TV show or movie or moved by the lyrics of a song. It should come as no surprise then, when thinking about how to end this first blog post of my 2-year adventure in Houston, that I resort to quotation. I was perousing the web for some new music to add to my "studying playlists" (yes, I am a nerd, and yes I AM studying on a Saturday post-college. Thank you, TExES and TFA) I came across a band called Carbon Leaf. In one of their songs, they have a lyric that says quite simply, "Live a life less ordinary." I suppose thats what I am trying to do here in Houston. I want to live big, live purposefully. I want to do something here that someone, even if it is a 5 year old named Joaquin, will remember. I will (and everyday do) miss my comfortable and fantastic life in St. Louis. But this new chapter is invigorating, and I promise to give it my best shot. I invite you all to join me in the laughter, joy, and with me, the inevitable tears, it will bring.