My Experience

I feel like my experience in the Mississippi Teacher Corps has been fairly typical of most of the participants. In a nutshell, I came in thinking that I would kind of know what to expect simply because I had had two friends try their hand at teaching in critical-needs districts and I had heard all of their stories. I was soon humbled after my first lesson when I realized that I sucked at what I thought I was going to be good at. Throughout the first summer, I felt like I continued progressing, and by the end of that time period I thought I had gotten a lot better. I suppose it is relative, but looking back on it now, it seems like all I had accomplished was to transition from being unmitigatedly inept to barely recognizable as a teacher. I remember naturally gravitating to the people who were at or who would be at North Panola High School with me. They would be the first ones that I would be able to call my new friends and, skipping forward to today for a second, I feel like I have become close with all of them. That actually says a lot since I am naturally somewhat introverted. The first year was filled with disappointment, frustration, and a need to be comforted. In regard to my first year of teaching, I have no problem being candid about two things. One, I am glad it is over and that I have it under my belt. Two, I honestly do not think I would have made it without the friendship, emotional availability, and overall positive teaching community offered by the Mississippi Teacher Corps participants at North Panola. I remember going into the second summer with my confidence shattered into a million tiny pieces. I was actually worried that I would be as bad as I had been the previous summer. Fortunately, and thank God this happened, my one year of experience had unforeseen benefits for me and I was able to rebuild some of the confidence that I so desperately needed. Even with a month off before real school began, that momentum stayed with me and I actually got off to a pretty decent start. Today (12/15/2011), it’s not as dandy as it was at the beginning of the year due to inconsistencies from both me and the administration, but I am light years ahead of where I was at this time one year ago.

Joining MTC

The Mississippi Teacher Corps offers many great life experiences. First, it provides an opportunity to network. What you will notice on the very first day is that when people are introducing themselves and saying which college or university they went to, there will most likely be several prestigious schools named. So, right off the bat you will come into contact with a whole room of motivated and intelligent people. Also, and the program director will most likely tell you this, the people willing to take on the challenges provided by the Mississippi Teacher Corps are unlikely to be ass holes, which makes making friends with the people you meet fairly easy. Second, the Mississippi Teacher Corps offers a chance to garner some very valuable work experience, especially for recent college grads. You will wake up at 5:30 every weekday morning, teach at your school from around 7 AM to around 4 PM (all while trying to remain sane, but that’s another story!), and plan for the next day/grade papers/do your MTC work/coach your team/tutor until you go to sleep anywhere from 10 (if you’re lucky) to midnight. Sure, the work isn’t exactly glorious. However, after two years of busting your butt not only will you have greatly strengthened your resume with work in a critical-needs school and a brand new masters degree, you will have also gained invaluable leadership experience. Lastly, and it might seem a bit cliche, but the Mississippi Teacher Corps truly offers the chance for some incredible memories that you will cherish for a lifetime. Whether those memories are painful (such as having a student curse at you for writing them up), comforting (such as going to a Halloween party with other MTC’ers to blow off some steam), or just downright hilarious (such as a student saying, and I quote, “Mane, your momma’s so fat, she squirt mayonnaise out her nurples”) you will remember them for a long time.

Since we’re being honest, there are also some reasons not to join MTC. If you are suffering from some delusion that teaching will be easy, especially in the types of school districts MTC places it participants, then you should not apply. If you are not willing to work hard almost every single day for at least two years, then you should not apply. And finally, if you are not willing to take advice, change things that experienced teachers tell you that you do wrong, and accept that you will not be very good at first, then you should not apply.