End of the Beginning

Today was the end of Institute, a place where I grew as a student, teacher & leader. A place where I met so many wonderful people & teachers. A place where my heart will forever reside, because this is where I truly learned what Teach For America was really all about - and became part of the cause.

Today was the end of the beginning.

THURSDAY:

My empty classroom. Bye, summer school.

My collab. Thank you Paco, Rosa & Melissa for being such wonderful friends & teachers!

 After the last day of school on Thursday, my roommate Cindy & I celebrated at the pub on-campus. Cheers!

Representing DFW with our duck hats.

Teach For America then had closing ceremonies, filled with inspirational speeches, from 7:30 - 9 p.m. It was the last time all of the Houston, San Antonio, DFW, Rio Grande Valley & Eastern North Carolina 2012 Corps Members were united in the same room.

Program for the night.

 The ceremony also had some really cool acts - specifically a drumline from YES Prep North Central & a shuffling act by Kreativity has Spoken. Check out these videos:

FRIDAY:

My CMA, Leland, had an emergency stash of chocolate pandas for our cohort. The rule was that if you were about to have/were having a mental breakdown, you could open the box & eat a few pandas. Luckily, the box was left sealed until the final day. We celebrated by eating the pandas together :)

Holy pandas.

Cheers to no breakdowns!

My cohort. My family. Y'all are amazing.