I may be burnt-out, but there are still parts of my job that I love

This morning I took a student of mine, I'll call her Sarah, to an interview for a scholarship--a very big scholarship. I was thrilled when I learned she'd been choosen as one of the final 4 candidates--usually this award ends up going to students from one of the city-wide public schools (the schools that are more academically rigorous, and can expel students who are failing, and require college applications as part of their senior year obligations), and Sarah, a product of a Baltimore City zone school, beat out probably dozens of other city-wide students for her interview. I love it when my students dis-prove the inner city stigma.

I went with her to the interview, more for moral support than anything else. We'd talked about interview ettiquette earlier in the week, she'd bought a new suit, practiced interview questions with one of her teachers, and even went online to research the company awarding the scholarship. Sarah is one of my stand-outs. She's been organized and motivated since the day I met her in her 10th grade year. She's unusually mature for her age--not once did I have to nag her for a college application or essay. Ironically, it was usually her mother who held things up because she refused to sign her applications or had some other petty reason to be difficult (I'm not a big fan of Sarah's mom).

I thought I'd just be waiting for her in the lobby while she met with the bigwigs, but it turns out they were expecting me to accompany her into the interview (a fact I wish I had known ahead of time so I could have worn a skirt instead of capris, but it wasn't my interview, so I hope it wasn't a big deal). Let me tell you how much fun it was to sit in there and listen to this girl impress these corporate men. Sarah was well-spoken, articulate, and completely calm in a very intimidating situation. I love moments like that, when I'm so proud of and so excited for a student I think I might burst.

It'll be another two weeks before she hears anything, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Sarah's financial situation isn't as dire as some of my other students. If she doesn't win this scholarship, she'll still be able to go to her chosen college in the fall, but so many of my really good students are passed over for scholarships in favor of kids from the city-wide schools. Of course the city-wide kids deserve recognition, too, but it is so difficult to convince my students they are just as deserving as city-wide kids, despite a terribly deficient school, so they usually just don't even apply for many scholarships. Sarah winning this award would send a powerful message to my students that yes, even a kid from a zone school, who's not at the top of the class and doesn't have stellar SAT scores can win big scholarship money because she worked hard, overcame obstacles, and didn't let anyone make her believe she couldn't because she wasn't at a city-wide school.

On a completly different note, it is HOT in this building today. I really don't understand it. It's about ten degrees cooler than yesterday, yet it's hotter in here than it's been all week. Maybe the heat just gets trapped in here. I was trying to hold out at home--I'm moving in 3 weeks and didn't see any reason to pay $25 to have my AC unit installed in my bedroom, but I relented yesterday and called to beg them to do it ASAP. I couldn't stand the thought of spending all day in a hot, muggy school and then going home to an equally hot apartment. So, last night I opened the door and was met with a blast of cold air that was worth every penny.