Rachel K. Decision

Seattle University wants me, too! Who would have thought this would happen? Certainly not me. In my infinite self-doubt, I seem to have forgotten somewhere along the graduate school application process to ... y'know... compare schools. My  preliminary search process for masters in teaching programs was as follows:

1. Google "masters in teaching programs, Seattle." 
2. Apply to top 3 search results. 
3. Pour a glass of wine. 

And in fact, the google search is really no exaggeration of my "research efforts." Behold: 

And so I began applying to these programs. Or, I should say that I applied to the programs that weren't turbo sketchy. I haven't talked very much about Seattle Pacific University, but that's only because the application deadline is in February and by the time I was getting around to putting something together, I had already heard back from the University of Washington. 

So now I am accepted to two ostensibly good schools: The University of Washington and Seattle University. I have the greatest problem anyone could have: 

Which graduate program should I go to?

 Sure, UW was definitely my first choice and I was totally behind the idea of finishing up pre-requisite classes in the next two quarters and starting in June... but then I got into the other school! It changed everything! So, I started making lists  -- most of them in my head at around 2am -- and here is what my lists may have looked like were they written on paper:

VS

UW v. SU 

UW has a bigger fountain than SU's... plus it has a vista of a volcano. 

SU's bathrooms are much nicer than UW's

UW has 220 people in the MIT program while SU's has 50

UW is broke and SU is backed by the DARK SIDE Catholic Church and has church $$$

UW is 2 years long, SU is 1

UW would save me $3,000... which I would end up spending on pre-requisites

I don't have to take anymore prerequisites if I go to SU... I could just take them during the program as opposed to before. 

For these reasons and generally no others, I have decided to officially enroll in the Seattle University and start my Masters in Teaching Program in early March of 2011. This is barring amnesia, peg-leggedness, and/or cold feet. 

So -- exciting news! This blog might actually turn into a teaching blog after a solid year and some months as a bunch of mild catastrophes. 

I'm going to be SO BROKE. 

And on that note, I'm going to visit my family in Virginia for a week and a half or so. I will probably report more on the graduate school enrollment from there. 

Rachel K. UW & the Return of Lifeapocalypse

The news that I had been accepted to the University of Washington Masters in Teaching Program came over my iPod e-mail around 4:30pm while I was in the middle of a closing shift at Makeda Coffee. I was so stunned that I had to read it over about three times (iPod screens are very small). Finally I was convinced enough to tell my boss the good news, which she was excited to hear! 

I spent the rest of the shift texting and calling people between customers and then excitedly bounded down to Capitol Hill to tell Kevin the good news in PERSON and to go see a midnight showing of "Indiana Jones: The Temple of Doom," which is the silliest Indiana Jones movie ever. So many alligators. 

I spent that weekend feeling very excited because THE THINGS I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR ARE NOW LEADING TO SOMETHING FRUITFUL! SO FULL OF FRUIT ARE THEY! 

Then again, I have three more prerequisite courses that I need to sign up for, get into, and get B's in before I can go to this masters program. Rats. 

So, Lifeapocalypse returns in a new form. I managed to register for a US History class (Reconstruction and onwards,) but I have yet to be fully enrolled in the educational psychology or multi ethnic studies courses that I need to secure my place at UW in June. Basically I've earned the acceptance, but I'm not yet accepted... which is really stressful. 

I've spent the past week trying to feel happy, but mostly feeling inundated and worried about courses. I'm waitlisted for these classes at UW, but I won't know if I have a seat in them until the first week of classes (January 3rd, which is 4 days before my reply to UW is due.) I have tried unsuccessfully to enroll in the community college lifespan psych course, but the professor wouldn't let me on the wait list without Psych 101 under my belt... even though the psych class is a 200 level (really?) 

The Plan B is going to happen as soon as I have a few hours to bus it up to North Seattle Community College to try and appeal to the psych professors up there to let me into their classes. 

Nothing is easy, everything is still up in the air, and I know I should stop worrying and remember to celebrate this incredibly VICTORY that my hard work has finally paid off with. I'm hoping that the classes will all work out and I can start blogging about REAL TEACHER THINGS and not DEEPLY ROOTED NON-MATRICULATED ANXIETY. 

I should hear back from Seattle University in a few more weeks. I interviewed with them awhile ago, but forgot to write about it. All in all it was pretty unspectacular. I really liked the UW candidates in the group interview a lot better, which is something to consider if I end up having to decide between the programs. 

I hope my next blog post is an optimistic and cheery one!

Rachel K. Makeda

I finally have a weekend and part-time job! I finally have income that will cover the utilities and rent that I have been paying for with fumes and savings up until now!

This is a good thing.

I haven't talked about my financial situation too much on the blog, but it's about as good as you might think it would be (considering I'm a full-time, non-matriculated student paying full price for classes at UW and SCCC while having no real income or job and living in a metropolitan area.) so yeah, basically I have about as much money as the dude sitting outside the Wal-Mart smoking asking if you can help him out. Only I have an iPod. 

So having a part-time job that gives me free coffee and pastries will lead to a fatter, more financially stable less financially unstable Rachel. 

Plus, the cafe that hired me is very "Seattle," with its old school La Marzocco machine, Indian Ganesh statue, cement floors and general "chillaxed" feeling. I'm psyched to be working here! I get paid more than I ever did at Starbucks and I don't have to worry as much. I don't bring my work home with me and I get to listen to my own music and wear my own clothes. It's a great job to hold me over until I can get into an actual career; and for that I'm thankful. 

Rachel K. Interview

On Friday of last week I found out that I was moving on up to the interview stage of the UW Masters in Teaching Program. I am PSYCHED that my application worked out so well. After spending almost an entire year trying to prepare for the basics of the program, it's nice to have some validation.

Of course I spent the entire week panicking about the interview and having my stomach in knots.

Well the interview is over now. I won't know how it went until November 12th (the countdown begins!) For anyone whose goal it is to apply to this program, I will explain how the interview went:

1. The first half hour was a briefing by a woman who runs the program (whose name I cannot remember) and a current grad student named Marina. They told us about the program, reassured us that if we are at the interview stage, we should probably all be teachers regardless of being accepted into this program or another. 
2. Part two was a 25 minute free write. We had a topic related to teaching and a topic related to a book or passage we had selected for the interview. However, we never ended up reading this aloud as we were supposed to, so I'm not sure what the writing was for in the end. Maybe nothing.
3. I had a group interview with five other candidates. We met in a conference room with a 5th grade teacher and one of the UW faculty. We discussed pedagogial "issues" and trouble shooted possible solutions. It was fairly relaxed. 
4. My final interview was a fifteen minute individual interview with two faculty members. One of them works with ELL (English as a learned language) programs and the other works with administration (like principals.) They were very nice and the interview didn't feel too nerve-wracking.

And that was all! I feel like I represented myself well, but my stomach is still in knots as I wait the three weeks to find out the final decision. If I get into this program, my life is going to be on a CAREER TRACK. If I don't get in, it's going to be hard to recover from the rejection. No two ways about it. 

When the interview was over, I finished out the day's classes and took a very long nap at home. Kevin took me out to celebrate the "done-ness" of the interview and we had delicious crepes at Citizen's in Queen Anne. I recommend crepes to anyone who has just gone to an interview. They have healing properties. 

Rachel K. Worst Field Trip Ever

CaraVANS

I went on a geology class field trip to Mt. Rainier today. I earned myself some bonus points for my class grade by taking on the position of van driver for the trip. Driving a van, as it turns out, is pretty frightening. Driving a van full of Chinese freshmen who don't know the area or speak English or talk to me is really boring. The field trip was mostly unorganized and the van drivers had no real way of contacting each other. The walkie-talkies didn't work, nobody switched cell phone numbers, and we didn't have directions or maps on how to get BACK from the national park.

Rocks! Let us study them!

Without going into more detail, it was pretty awful. I drove a van for 8.5 hours and drove at uncomfortably fast speeds on the high way in the hopes of keeping up with the other van drivers who were speeding, but who knew the way home.

View of Mt. Rainier

Bonus points be damned. The trip was not worth the stress. HowEVER we did see beautiful mountain scenery, so I will put up some pictures of that and hope that it comes to be what I remember most about the trip... in time.

View of some kind of dam

A stream that turns into Narada Falls (which I don't have a decent picture of) 

The Reflecting Pools, which we fortunately got a great view of!