I got a waterproof camera more because I didn't want my current one to be ruined by the rain than for its ability to take underwater pictures.  But, now that I also got some sweet snorkeling gear, the prospect of taking underwater pictures is that much more exciting!

an exercise in patience

For the past month or so, I’ve been substitute teaching for schools all around Connecticut in classrooms ranging from grades 2-12.  If it weren’t for the constant assurances I got from other teachers that subbing is inordinately difficult, I would be seriously concerned about my upcoming year as a full-time teacher.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved getting a steady paycheck.  But now that the school year is coming to a close, I will gladly forgo the extra cash in exchange for staying at home in the safety of my living room.  It’s not that I was bad at subbing (although I might have been a little too lenient), it’s just that as a sub, you start off with very little authority in the eyes of students who are looking for any way to avoid work.  On top of that, it’s the end of the school year, lesson plans consisting of “students may read silently” are widespread (and preposterous), and many students are held to so little personal responsibility at home that you almost can’t blame them for their behavior at school.

From past volunteer accounts, I’ve read that Pohnpeian students are reluctant to participate or engage themselves in classroom discussions.  Really??  That sounds like an awesome problem to have.  My personality is so much more conducive to getting kids to speak up than getting them to quiet down.  During my first 90 minutes with one of my middle school classes, I had learned the name of almost every single student.  One student asked me, “Hey Mister, how did you know my name??”  I don’t think he was aware of how often I had to yell his name to get him to sit down or stop talking.  Apparently, misbehavior is a great cure to my difficulty in learning new names.

Now that I’ve had a couple valuable lessons in classroom management, I feel a lot better about teaching in Pohnpei.  I’m also interested to witness the differences between American students and Micronesian students when I start teaching in a couple months.  I was appalled by the abundance of my middle schoolers who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, ADHD, and OCD.  I don’t mean to suggest that these were false positive misdiagnoses, but I don’t remember there being such an omnipresence of these disorders when I was in middle school.  I had one student casually say to me after I asked him to sit down, “I can’t sit in my seat because I have ADHD.”  He then proceeded to steal his classmates’ work, run to the back of the class, and throw pieces of paper at other students.  Maybe he really does have ADHD, but it seems like an all too convenient justification for his misbehavior to me.  I have to believe that “medicalization” has not affected Micronesia to the same extent that it has for the United States, but the perception and handling of these behavioral disorders is something I’ll definitely be curious to observe once I reach the classroom.    

that's awesome! wait...where is it?

Before I start logging all of my experiences during and leading up to my stay in Pohnpei, I should perhaps let you know why I have decided to undertake this challenge.  Seeing as how I missed out on the whole ‘study abroad’ train – or cruise ship, in the case of some of my friends – during undergrad, I was anxious to get out of the country and do some real exploring.  Not wanting to pay thousands of dollars for a pre-packaged, vacation-esque month in some country you’ve never heard of, I decided to apply to WorldTeach.  Now, I’ll be spending a year truly volunteering ($0 out of my pocket) with a lot more personal autonomy, actual work to do, but still in a country that you’ve never heard of.  I’ll admit that I also had to look up Pohnpei on a map when I considered applying there, but I quickly grew fond of the idea of going to basically the most remote place I’ll ever have the chance to visit and teaching something I am truly passionate about.  

Although I’ve been getting lots of dumbfounded attaboy’s from different people since I decided to take this route, please know that I do not expect to “change the world,” nor am I trying to.  If anything, I’m being self-centered by forcing my parents to keep all my possessions in limbo in the garage and mail me packages when I run out of girl scout cookies and other such essentials (thanks Mom and Dad!).  I figure that if I’m going to take a year off before heading to med school, I might as well do something worthwhile.  From the perspective of the people I am volunteering FOR, the worthwhile-ness of this endeavor of course depends on my strength as a teacher.  I’m not doing anybody any good if I can’t get the job done!  So, I’ve been substitute teaching for the past couple weeks with the intention of picking up a few tricks of the trade that I will be able to take with me to Micronesia.  This is something I’ll definitely expound upon later, as the majority of these “tricks” I’m learning are also applicable to zookeeping, babysitting, and being an invisible doormat – no one sees you, but everyone manages to walk all over you.  But the good news is that I am learning, and I think that the experience will definitely be reflected positively in my approach to teaching in Pohnpei - which is the goal!

I’ve got about a month left to go before I depart from Los Angeles, have a one-night layover in Honolulu, and then “island-hop” my way to through Micronesia to Pohnpei.  Life. Is. Tough.  Until then, I have a little bit of working planned, a lot of saying goodbyes (or see-ya-laters, for the sake of optimism), and a ton of preparation in store for me.  And yes, preparation entails more than just getting a good base tan!  For now, I’m off to try out some new beers that the kitchen gods (aka my parents) have magically bestowed upon the fridge!