On the completion of the first week of my educational boot camp I am ready for a sigh of relief. It’s been one hell of a week, and it’s all gone by so fast! Heading for Pace University in downtown Manhattan before 8AM, home around 7:30 PM…all the knowledge (both practical and philosophical) all the homework! For the first time in a very, very long time…academics are my life. Even as an undergrad I slept until noon, skipped classes, let the emotions of interpersonal relationships cloud the purity of education. Just think: seven weeks to learn everything that teachers take 4 years to know. It’s a kick to the brain, filling me to the brim with so much knowledge that I shut down at the end of the night, falling asleep without a problem around 11:45. I feel challenged both on an intellectual level, and on basic level (how the hell am I going to stand in front of a class, let alone a special ed class?) Classroom management, paired with understanding the cognitive development of children.

One down, six weeks to go…In two months I’ll be a teacher, not just a grad student.