I started the Urban Education Internship Program with little idea of what was in store. There were two main reasons why I decided to do it. One, I had nothing really better to do in my hometown of New York City, except for eating my parents' cooking. Two, I always held a conviction that I could motivate students who were disinterested in learning. I am glad to say I was definitely able to accomplish my first goal, but the second is not for me to judge. But what really surprised me was how I was able to accomplish goals beyond the two I had going in.
The program was a wonderful experience. I don't know if it's because I was interning in a "good" public high school (The Beacon School) with motivated kids, because I had good mentors or because I myself was able to motivate them in some way and that itself, was pleasurable. There's an indescribable feeling when a kid picks up something that you helped show her. It makes you feel all tingly and proud.
My greatest moment during the program was probably when I taught a student how to use a website to find magazine articles and she unexpectedly found an article about one of her heroes that she could use for her project. Her response: "That's so cool." Cool was a word I heard a lot and when I heard kids use that word to describe academics, it was a powerful feeling.
Despite the fact that I was only at Beacon for a month or so, I feel that I developed a rapport with the students. The student would greet me in the hallway, asking me what my major was or whether I was planning on teaching as a future career option But what I enjoyed most was when a student walked up to me and asked me if an idea he had used in a paper was valid. When this happened, the student defended his idea to me, and I learned something about world history that I did not know before. Perhaps it is this constant learning process that is one of the reasons why teaching is worthwhile.
Once a week, all the interns discussed our experiences in different New York City high schools. I soon realized the difficulties that teachers face in varying qualities of public school environments. All of the first-hand accounts-from those describing third year freshmen to outbursts of violence-were very interesting. But even in the worst of these schools a glimmer of hope remained. Most of my colleagues found one or two students who get a sparkle in their eyes when they pick up something new. That inspiration is what teaching is all about.
Observing is not the most satisfying part of the experience, though it is a necessary component in learning to be a good teacher and finding your own teaching style. I felt useless when I just sat there and bored when unable to interact with these eager young minds. I also wonder what my experience would have been like had I been at a less privileged, more "normal" high school. But these were minor nuisances in the grand scheme of things.
In New York City, the teachers union runs commercials that discuss how dire the teaching situation in New York is. The typical New Yorker either a) ignores these commercials or b) switches the channel when they are on. These commercials generally focus on the lack of new teachers in the system because of the relatively low income teachers receive. They usually feature a n instructor talking to a student at his desk while a narrator discusses the teaching crisis. The failure of these commercials rests on their inability to show the importance of a teacher in a student's life. In many cases, the sole motivation for a student to learn is a teacher. Often, the sole motivation between attending Amherst and living a life as a high school drop-out is the influence of a teacher.
This year, I traded in my TV and lounging for an early start to the noblest of professions. Despite the fact that teachers are grossly underpaid, perhaps what keeps them in the game is waking up and thinking, "I make a difference in a person's life. I teach." How many people can say that?