Day Two.

Today was such an inspirational day. It was extremely long, but every second was perfect. It started off at 7 a.m. with breakfast and meeting up with our group. We all shared our story of self which introduced ourselves and our reason for joining this movement. This was by far my favorite part of the day. It's funny how I couldn't keep my eyes open in a 7:30 lecture, but I was intently listening to every word of these stories. Like I have said before, this people are beyond amazing and they will be my constant inspiration. It was so amazing to hear everyone's reasoning for being here, and most related back to one instance or one person. Another group member of mine summed it up perfectly by saying that we are all selfless, because never once did someone mention that they were here for themselves. It was so eye opening and made me so honored to be working with such incredible human beings.

Next we had community exploration for 3 hours where I went into Central Phoenix for 3 hours. It was so quiet and calm with very few people. We went into St. Mary's Basilica which was beyond gorgeous. We also went into the Arizona Science Center which was so awesome. There was a summer camp field trip there with children running around from East Valley. This made me realize that Arizona allows for so many opportunities for children, and many of my students will never experience. My goal is to introduce my students to cultural experiences that are right in their backyard. While I had my students on my mind, it also made me think about my brother and how badly I want to take him there and explore everything that Phoenix has to offer.

After lunch, we attended two discussions. One was on the theory of change and the other was about diversity and inclusiveness. These were so interesting, and many things stuck out to me. In the theory of change, we talked about how children in poverty are faced with multiple challenges. This is real and this is their lifestyle. We also discussed how we as corps members can educate and change this. I realized that Teach for America is a lifelong personal responsibility that will last longer than my 2 years. When I become alumni, I will never give up on this mission. I believe that I will develop a passion while I am in the classroom and work towards a specific goal to help close the achievement gap. I will forever be dedicated to this mission.

We also discussed diversity and inclusiveness in the classroom. We talked about the importance of relating to the students, parents, and community. Being in a large Hispanic population, I will need to enter the community with a sense of humility and go above and beyond to show my children's parents that I want to be involved with them. We will be a team with one commonality: educating their child. Also, it is important to relate with the students on every level in order to see them succeed. I realize that I may not be able to walk in their shoes, but I will get as close as I can in order to understand it.

Lastly, we attended dinner with TFA alumni. It was so wonderful to talk with them and hear about their experiences in Phoenix. You could hear the passion in their voices and I kept thinking that I wanted to show that passion years down the road. I can't express enough how amazing everyone in this program is. The amount of passion that is on the campus of ASU right now is ridiculous. I can't wait until that passion is taken into the classroom.

All my love from Phoenix,

Jacey