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          Imagine Dorothy Gale.  Her dog was going to be taken away so, she decided to run away from home.  Shortly into her journey, she was told that there was trouble with her family and she quickly attempted a return.  However, she was met by a twister and thrown into a world completely different that what she had ever known.  She was removed from her comfort zone and forced to tackle the new world. She was young, head-strong, emotional, and extremely dependent on the support of her family.  She was filled with passion and acted irrationally at times, but generally came to her senses in the end.  

          Now picture this: a college senior with no clue what do to after graduation.  I had been planning to accept a job with the cardiology office where I had interned prior to my senior year.  However, the job fell through due to circumstances out of my control, and I was left to wallow in self pity  figure out a new plan, preferably one that did not involve me moving back home.  That is when I remembered that one of my associates had joined Teach for America.  However, being the impatient person that I am, the length of the application process did not appeal to me, and I found myself looking for similar programs.  This led me to find the Mississippi Teacher Corps, which not only had a much shorter application process, but was also, in my opinion, much more interesting and a better quality program.  I applied, and was offered a position less than a month later.  Thus, the tornado had picked me up; and, like Dorothy, I was oblivious to where I was headed.

          My dad drove me down to Mississippi, and, just like that, I was suddenly living in the adult world.  I went through orientation and met those who were to become my biggest support system over the next two years.  At this point, I thought I was out of the tornado (Hint: the house was still firmly on the ground).  We spent a week taking classes on how to make a lesson plan and basic classroom management, but then the real horror fun began.  

          Teaching at Holly Springs summer school was one of the hardest, yet most beneficial, things that I have ever done.  I went through every emotion imaginable: I laughed, I cried (a lot), I got angry, I was inspired, among many other feelings.  I lost sleep that will never be regained.  I worked very hard to make sure that I was being the best I could be.  Sometimes the work was a complete failure, but I learned from the failure, thus making even my worst moments a success.  I felt as if I was thrown in every direction.

          However, when summer school came to a close, I felt very accomplished.  I felt like I had conquered the world.  I felt kind of like Dorothy when she stepped into Munchkinland for the very first time.  I was finally seeing the teaching world for what it was: a place that, though it was very dark at times, was just full of inspiration, motivation, and beaming with color.  I was Dorothy Gale.