there is hope...

Ever since I started TFA I have been swept up into a whirlwind of business. I constantly go go go go go go.

It's been TOUGH...to say the least. I have never experienced anything so challenging in my life ( yes..it’s even more challenging then traveling and living in Addis, Ethiopia for 6th months!). I'm constantly being pushed and challenged to do better...to be a better teacher...and I constantly feel like I suck at what I do...which is actually a common mentality between many of us "TFAers."

So with that being said.. I'm gonna be completely honest and say...it's hard. It's one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Like I said, I constantly am being pushed to do better...and I constantly feel like I'm not doing good enough. I work more than I ever have..I feel like I even work when I'm sleeping sometimes. My days consist of waking up at 5:30 am...going to school...I don't have a break all day (except to RUN to the bathroom during lunch..cause I have to eat with my students)..I don't get home until 4:30 or 5:30 pm...and then I have to lesson plan and prepare for the next day. I lesson plan until I go to bed…and then it starts all over again. My weekends even consist of me planning for the next week. On top of all of that... It's HARD to be in a new area...make new friends...learn a COMPLETELY new culture...and strive to be a good enough teacher to make significant gains and impact in the student’s lives…all at the same time. I have never had to be more organized...put together...responsible...and on top of things as I have this year as a teacher. I don't think I know anyone who wouldn't say it is the MOST challenging thing they have done yet...

BUT despite that...despite the exhaustion...the feeling of constantly being overworked...the emotional challenges of living in a new area, adjusting to a new culture, being a new teacher...etc. this job is SO rewarding. It’s the little things...coming to school and having students huddled around your desk in the morning to say hi and ask me what I have planned for class today…or hearing a student walk down the hall humming the math song I just taught them. Or it is when a student who has been struggling in math, masters their first test. Or it’s when you tell a student, who has been working hard in your class, "good job" and their face lights up. That's what spurs me on each day...that's why I do what I do...despite all the hardships and countless hours of work. The students make it alllll worth it.

HONESLTY..it’s all about the students...they are why I came here to begin with…and they are what’s keeping me here. I love my students more than I thought possible. YES- even when they don't listen to me...or when they give me headaches...or constantly talk...or fight in my classroom...or don't walk in straight lines...haha..I still love them…and I believe that they DESERVE to receive a good education- they deserve to have people in their lives that tell them that they can do it…that believe in them and love them. They deserve an education that pushes them and guides them to success.

Pray for my students…pray for the students in the Delta. There is hope for them to have a bright future...pray that they will be empowered to make the right decisions and to be guided to the right path…pray that their teachers won’t fail them…and that they will be pushed to do their best and succeed in school. Pray for their families…many have rough situations. The families here are stuck in a cruel and rough cycle of poverty…and education is one of their only hopes of breaking out of that cycle. And yet the cycle of poverty is even affecting the educational system…continuing to keep the students within it’s trap…continuing to discourage…keep them behind…take away opportunities and experiences…and destroy their hope for the future.

And as hopeless and scary as that sounds, I’m here to say...there is still hope. Despite the cycle of poverty…and educational inequality that is a definite reality within the delta…I still see hope- when every day I go to school and I see teachers who CARE about these students. I see my principle working HARD to make changes. I see parents who are reaching out, wanting their students to succeed, I see students working hard and trying their best to beat the odds that are stacked against them. I see hope…even when many say it’s hopeless.

With prayer and actions..change can and will occur. I have hope for my babies..and for the students in the Delta…keep praying…keep supporting…keep loving….change will come in individual lives..and in the bigger picture..there is hope.
(ALSO on a side note- I have been SO blessed to have found amazing friends
here. I have a great roommate who I enjoy coming home to everyday. I don’t know what I would do without her. And I have found a really legit group of friends down here. We encourage each other and hold each other up. I would NOT be able to get through this without them. )

Thank you ALL for your love, support, and prayers. I couldn’t do this without you.
MUCH LOVE,
dana