On Monday I went to visit the school I'll be working in and met with the principals. It made this whole year seem more realistic to be walking around the building. It also overwhelmed me a little. They are trusting me to work in classrooms and mentor kids through Big Brothers Big Sisters with only a month of training (and only about 2 days of it on actually working with kids). I feel under-qualified, but maybe that is how all teachers feel (at least at first?). Next week we are in the schools all week observing classrooms and then the week after we really start.
In other City Year news, we got our uniforms this week...including the much anticipated Timberland boots! Yes, they are everything that I imagined them to be. I can't wait to get them dirty and wrinkled. The rest of the uniform, is well, a uniform. The pants fit kinda funny and the x-small shirt is way too big. But I feel approximately 13.2 hundred times cooler working in it. Really unifies the group.
Friday was our Opening Day, basically the official start of the year. We listened to lots of people talk, and said the City Year pledge which I'm putting here because I actually think it is pretty cool. Here ya go:
To honor the rules and expectations of City Year,
To respect my colleagues and the people and communities we serve,
To provide excellent service,
To lead by example and be a role model to children,
To celebrate the diversity of the people, ideas, and cultures around me,
To serve with an open heart and an open mind,
To be quick to help and slow to judge,
To do my best to make a difference in the lives of others,
And to build a stronger community, nation, and world for all of us.
Here's something for you to think about. What is the best way to open a can of tuna without a can opener? Let me know if you have any better ideas, because I still have three cans and no opener :-)