The alarm goes off consistently at six in the morning. At the beginning of the year I tried to convince myself it was worth it to get up even earlier and got to the gym, but sleep is very valuable to MAT students (and to most grad students I’m sure). Once the alarm goes off I put what I affectionately call “my teacher wear” on in the dark, and stumble down the stairs to make my coffee. While the coffee machine works it’s magic, I pack up my lunchbox, and make sure my backpack (yes, I carry a backpack) is full of the essentials, namely hall passes, pens, and my security badge.
Once all of my bags are packed I load up my car, and head to school. I stop by the main office every morning for my assignment. I think of it kind of like the sorting hat. Which department (house) will I end up in today? Often times I am more than one teacher, which means that I end up scurrying from room to room in between blocks. Substitute teaching can be a challenging job, but nothing changes the fact that I spend my day helping students learn, and grow, and that’s pretty rewarding. At two o’clock the bell rings, and I have to fight my way through a river of students trying to make it to the bus on time, to retrieve my lunchbox before heading out for the day. Technically I only have to be at the high school until 2:15, but I help out with the writing club on Wednesdays, in addition to spending time lesson planning with my cooperating teacher, so I rarely leave on time.
Many days I have to leave right from the high school to get to class, and that can make for quite a busy schedule. The running joke is that a graduate student’s diet is made up of sugar, and coffee, and to be honest some days that is all my diet consists of (ok, maybe that’s a bit facetious, there’s probably some pasta and sauce in there too). I get to class by four, and I spend the next two and a half hours learning how to help my students learn, and thrive in my classroom. After that, it’s time to head home and get some rest before turning around and starting all over again the next day.
Is it exhausting being an MAT student? You bet.
Would I trade the experiences I’ve had in this program for anything else in the world? Not a chance.
-Cyndi Frank MAT 2012
