Looking Beyond Georgia: New Plan A

My original Plan A was to be a 2012 Teach for America corps member. Alas, I did not make the final cut, so my Plan B moves up to be my new Plan A.


My new Plan A starts off with travel. When my contract Teach and Learn With Georgia ends in June, I can delay my return flight for up to a month. I'll take advantage of that and travel around Eurasia-ish for a few weeks, and then on the way home, I'll take an extended layover in Istanbul.

When I return to Missouri at the end of July, I have a couple of projects to complete, which will take about six weeks.

And then? I've got two Plan A tracks:

• Go to Mexico or Central America and knock on doors for a teaching gig; or
• Find an ESL teaching position in the U.S. Southwest. 

Or lucky me, I might do something entirely different. 

Whatever new place I land, I'm looking forward to my own place, rootless thought it may be. I have been supremely fortunate in the graciousness of my Rustavi host families (and, for that matter, my Missouri hostesses), but it will be good to have my own little cave again.

Looking Beyond Georgia: Plan A

I've completed half my tenure with Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG), and I'm in the midst of the Teach for America (TFA) application process. My final interview for same is on Tuesday, November 29.

If I am invited to join the TFA corps (and if I accept), I'll begin teaching somewhere in the U.S. for the 2012-2013 school year. TFA "corps members" sign on for a two-year commitment to teach in a school that is in a low-income community. Might be rural; might be urban.

If I get in, I'm hoping to teach English language learners (ELL).

And if I get in, I suspect I'll need to brush up on my acronym skills. They're a bit rusty (TABR).

On January 17, I'll find out if I made the cut. If no, it's on to Plans B or C.

Talking about Plans A, B, and C gives me the opportunity to share a great quote from Ashley, a TLG colleague:

... I am a planner. I always have a Plan A, and am rarely caught without a Plan B. I plan for the most minor of externalities. Catch me at any consequential moment and I've usually got two plans and a lie already prepared.

Once I put the interview behind me, I'll be able to focus on a great Georgian party here in Missouri, where I can share the homemade wine, chacha, and churchkhela so generously shared with me. We'll make toasts to the folks back in the Caucasus and to ourselves and our loved ones.

... and a toast to another semester in Georgia!