worst case scenarios

At times like these, when your entire future is up in the air, there is nothing to do but convince yourself that there is only one possible outcome: the worst case scenario.

Today was CBEST day.

Worst case scenario: I do not pass, thereby losing my Los Angeles placement and being either shipped to Podunk, Missouri (population: me) or becoming an attrition statistic. Our director was talking today about how most of the attrition in LA corps happens early on, because the testing is so hard, as opposed to other states where easier testing doesn’t scare people off, and then they end up quitting later on down the road.

CBEST question: What is the best definition for the word “attrition” as it is used in the previous paragraph?
Answer: A cordial invitation to pack your bags.

Tomorrow is Placement Fair day. I will have between zero and five interviews, which may be with a single principal who has no idea what TFA is all about, or a large panel of administrators with a great amount of trust and history with the program. I have been talking to a girl with a placement at a Hollywood middle school whose interview went like this:

Principal: So. What are you qualified to teach?
Teacher: Biology.
Principal: Great. You’re hired.

And then there are the nightmare stories. The battle-hardened veteran types who ask you what you’ll do the first time you ask a kid to pay attention and he says, “Fuck you!” The principals who do not trust youth and enthusiasm. The panels who ask you why they should hire you instead of someone certified. By which they mean, someone qualified.
And what do you say to that?

Worst case scenario: I get placed at a middle school in a district on the relative moon, with a an evil interview panel and a skeptical principal. You would think that the worst case scenario would be a lack of placement, but you would be wrong. A lack of placement can be remedied later on down the road. Any placement, even a bad one, must be accepted. It is corps policy, and it’s just good practice. But if your school is a bad fit, you’re in for a long couple of years.