On Facebook: "XXXX is sending letters to the state governor, rep, and senate to reconsider the 20% budget cuts in higher educational spending to come up with $147 million shortfall we have experienced. FIND ANOTHER WAY because it wasn't the first and won't be the last shortfall we experience. GET INVOLVED!"
Couldn't have come at a different time?
I'm having the toughest time deciding if I want to pursue Teach for America or go directly into my career path in the engineering/business world. Do I give back to my community, return to Vegas, take the opportunity to build upon my network of family and friends, do more for the school and the education system that I STRONGLY believe is wrong and underserved in MY community. Or do I go and seek the path that offers me stability, security, monetary needs, confidence in business, and somewhat of a set, professional life? As an engineer, will TFA hinder my ability to go into the field that I'm interested in, will it waste away my Bioengineering and Entrepreneurship education that is freshly in my mind if I just pause and teach for a few years, and would it make me a less attractive candidate for the future, or will taking TFA make me a better candidate, someone who's more involved, more real, more passionate?
My brain won't stop running.
Everyone's telling me to do Teach for America, don't do Teach for America. I'm getting bombarded with phonecalls and it's hard to sit down and think. What do I want? I prayed and I prayed and it seemed like I went with my gut and decided no. But then even when I say no, my no is so not confident that my recruiter picks up on it and offers me a lot more help and gives me a little more time to think about it. Why can't I run away from it?
And now, the facebook status. Something that angers me.
Vegas' education system SUCKS. I came out of it, and I will say, it really really sucks. We need to fix it and stop relying on the "jobs" we have that allow us to "not focus on education". This job security is unreliable. Vegas was named THE EMPTIEST city in the US after the Fall of 2008 and the subprime mortage crisis. We are a city which relies heavily on the tourism and services industry and as gambling and tourism and tips decreased, so did our jobs, our salary, and our education. Why in the world are we CUTTING EDUCATION? When EDUCATION IS THE SOLUTION! We can't rely on gambling forever, it IS our main industry, tourism IS our specialty, but we need diversification, we need jobs for the educated, we need to create an environment that stirs curiosity and the willingness to learn in our students and here I am hearing about the state cutting more and more funds and teachers when ALREADY we're at a shortage?
Wake up Las Vegas.
I escaped the system. I'm one of the few who left the state for college, did research, built technology, traveled to different countries for global volunteer services, enjoyed drinks and debates, went to random lectures, and got a great degree. But I didn't have an easy time, because my peers at this institution were significantly more prepared than I was.
Fix it Las Vegas.
These students DO care about their education, and you're stopping them from getting it. And most students will never even know about their full potential, because you're cutting them out.
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Young, you did the right thing in turning down the TFA job. Whatever job you end up getting, you have to love it with passion or else you will just get bored, disinterested, unsatisfied, and eventually you will either quit the job or get terminated for poor job performance. Follow your gut feeling, that's the way to make all those difficult decisions yet to come in your young life.
ReplyDeleteYoung, I just discovered your blog. Reading this one made me sad because it's true, and you made me realize how lucky we were to have left it, went to Penn together, survived 8 rounds of finals, and countless more midterms. You're right, it was not easy at all, we worked our little butts off. I don't know, I always thought I was never really good enough because my parents had to deal with so much more to get out of China (typical Chinese parents)and the people at Penn WERE so much more prepared. It gets me to thinking about life, and how there are so many things you can't control, but then again so many things that you can...
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