The future is almost here.

(The following was posted on my Facebook recently. It has been lightly edited and expanded here.)

I didn’t really discuss it here, but last year, I applied to and was accepted by both City Teaching Alliance (for Baltimore) and Teach For America (South Dakota). Without getting into all the personal and interpersonal details, I ended up picking TFA, and then more details happened, and I ended up deferring to this year.

I had already done the testing and paperwork, so I paid my fee and now I have a Preliminary Alternative Certification. When it is time for hiring in the spring and summer, schools served by TFA in South Dakota can interview me to teach K-8. This is just the first baby step, but I am going to celebrate every step along the way. 😊

I was wildly excited about these opportunities (both CTA and TFA) last year, and then I was crushed, and now I am back! And in the meantime, I have been taking online courses (that’s a whole other post there), reading, and seeking people out to talk to and learn from, so I feel somewhat more prepared this year than I would have been last year.

I’m excited, but also nervous. Those two feelings are mixed up inside of me. I’m finally taking the reins of my life, now that I am almost 55. The future I have imagined for decades is almost here.

It’s equal parts terrifying and exhilarating.