Day 1

So institute has finally begun. Apparently, it's supposed to be hell where 30% of the corps drops out. What's keeping me here is the overwhelming sense of failure that would follow if I were to drop out. We arrived at the lovely Loyola campus greeted by dozens of smiling faces in gray shirts. We were directed to one of several tables that gave us tons of vital information such as how to access the internet and where to put your luggage. The entire affair looked and felt as though we were all senior citizens signing up for our ultimate demise. Everyone was a little too nice, a little too understanding and a little too eager to get us to the next table.

I don't know if you know this, but LA is a big city. Apparently I missed (natch ignored) the memo on purchasing linens and was left with a squeaky plastic mattress with nothing to cover it with. An impromptu trip to Target was arranged that involved a cab and a stolen shopping cart (too many details to mention).

The actual first day of institute began at 4:50 am. For those of you wondering that's approximately 12 hours earlier than I normally wake up. The actual day on the site was a combination of ill-conceived speeches and loaded teacher-speak that barely registered in my brain. The information was a basic rundown of the TFA doctrine, that is, what we should think, believe and strive for as teachers. We all talked about our feelings and how we measure success while holding hands around an incense lamp. Returning to the university site at approximately 5 pm we entered the clusterfuck that was the dining hall. 661 kids were corralled into an area designed for, maybe, 100 and served sliced turkey breast wrapped around broccoli florets and covered in what appeared to be leftover alfredo sauce or warmed over semen. Either way, I had two portions and would have gladly accepted another. Finally, we were treated to a welcome 'celebration' which mostly consisted of 661 grumpy kids forced to listen to a bunch of higher-ups speak about how we were doing a lot of good.

The first day wasn't so bad, but it really shouldn't have been. It's these next few days, and subsequent weeks, that I'm really worried about.