Where are all the Vagina Warriors?

The other day, as I was waiting for a much needed massage, I sat perusing through the book, Vagina Warriors, which is "a unique collaboration between playwright/activist/V-Day founder Eve Ensler, creator of the international hit The Vagina Monologues, and world-renowned photographer Joyce Tenneson." This book contains photographs and sentiments of the most amazing women who are Vagina Warriors. You might ask, "What is a Vagina Warrior?" A Vagina Warriors is a vagina friendly person of any gender identification who embodies the spirit of equality and empowerment, and assists in the battle to end violence against women.  But over the past couple of weeks, it seems that all the Vagina Warriors have disappeared and what we are left with are right-wing politicians (mostly white men) who are deciding the fate of women's rights. It feels like we have moved backward in time about 100 years and women's rights are in jeopardy.  For instance:

In Kansas, there's an anti-abortion bill being presented which makes numerous changes to Kansas' state law by restricting abortions and it also allows for physicians who oppose abortions to lie to their patients.  "Buried in a sweeping anti-abortion bill is a provision that would immunize a doctor who discovers that a baby will be born with a devastating condition and deliberately withholds that information from the patient."  If this bill passes and you are a pregnant woman in Kansas and are unfortunate enough to have a physician who opposes abortion, this physician can intentionally not fully disclose the results of your amnio, blood tests, ultrasound, or any other prenatal tests which indicates that your child might be born with some fatal disease.  You give birth to this child and you have to recourse to sue the physician for malpractice. Sad to say, Kansas is not the only state making these types of changes. Oklahoma recently passed a similar law and the Arizona legislature is considering a similar bill. While we all might not agree on abortion, I think we can all agree that any decision should be the hands of the woman and her family and not in the hands of politicians.

Let's talk about Texas and the Texas Abortion Law which requires a woman to make at least 2 visits to a clinic before she can have an abortion.  The first visit is to have a transvaginal ultrasound and then the patient has to wait 24 hours before going back to have the procedure.  They've called it "The Women's Right to Know Act," which requires physicians "to give women seeking abortions state-mandated information about medical risks, adoption alternatives, and developmental stages of the fetus." Yet another example of right-wing conservatives attempt to circumvent a woman's right to choose by forcing her to go through this unnecessary procedure before terminating her pregnancy.  I suppose they think if the woman sees and hears the fetus, it'll change her mind about the termination. Can you imagine a rape victim forced to go through this invasive procedure? A similar law was passed recently in Virginia.  If you haven't yet seen Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip's six-day series on this ridiculous law, please check it out.  It's brilliant!  (Start with the strip on March 12, 2012 and then the subsequent 5 days.) 

Of course we can always take issue on the fight in Washington, DC regarding President Obama's policy requiring contraception coverage in employer-provided insurance plans. The fact that religious institutions are opposed to this policy is irrelevant. This not about religion - it's about women's health.  And these religious institutions should also realize that not everyone who works for their organizations adhere to their antiquated beliefs. Again, these opponents are conservative white men, which led President Obama to compromise with these zealots. <sigh>  The Daily Show had two great segments on this argument:  The Vagina Ideologues and The Vagina Ideologues - Sean Hannity's Holy Sausage Fest.  Thank you, Jon Stewart!

So where are all the Vagina Warriors??  It's time for women to voice their opinions on the laws being passed which limit their rights. Time to speak up and tell your legislature that they need to stay out of our personal lives. Again, regardless on your stance on these issues, the right wing conservatives needs to stay out of our uteri.  And will the last woman leaving Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Virginia and Arizona, please turn out the lights. I'd hate to run up an electric bill.

A Literary Festival?? Count Me In!!!

One of the many selling points (for me) of my new town is the annual Newburyport Literary Festival - now in its 7th year.  When I was considering places in which to live, I was immediately attracted to the fact that Newburyport has this wonderful literary tradition. After arriving in Newburyport in June 2011, I happened to be checking out the local Chamber of Commerce website and noticed that the festival was looking for some new members for the planning committee. I immediately emailed the co-chairs, offering my assistance in any way. This was one of the best decisions I had made in a long time. Working with approximately 8 or 9 of the most amazing women on this extraordinary festival has been the highlight of my year. I am so excited for this year's festival that I wanted to write this blog, encouraging anyone within driving distance to please stop by.  

This year's festival, scheduled for April 27 and 28, will be honoring Newburyport poet, Alfred Nicol and celebrating "The Lyrical Voice."  While there isn't a set schedule yet, the festival will be featuring some of the best writers in the young adult, children's, fiction and nonfiction genres.  A brief list of some of the authors making appearances at this year's festival is:  Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, Tony Abbott, Andre Dubus III, Ron Della Chiesa, Anne Easter Smith, folk singer extraordinaire and author Christine Lavin, Robert Pinksy and many, many more.  Check out the festival's website for the complete list.

In addition to helping raise funds through planning our silent auction, I will also be moderating one of our panels - the mystery panel "On the Edge of Our Seats: Why Kids Love Suspense" with two of the most amazing mystery writers for children:  Tony Abbott and Elise Broach.  If you haven't read any of their novels, please do. While they are geared toward children, even as a adult, I found them to very amusing, well-written and engrossing. 

Please mark your calendars and come visit Newburyport the weekend of the festival.  I promise you it will be a thoroughly packed, entertaining weekend - plus New England in the spring is one of the most beautiful places to be.

Update on 4/8/12:  The final schedule can now be viewed on the festival's website.  Check it out!!

Career Change: The Onboading Process

This is the 4th installment in chronicling my career change. [Sorry for the delay in posting this next chapter... I accidentally deleted my first draft when it was nearly completed and had to re-write the entire thing.  Doh!]

After scarfing down an indulgent cupcake in celebration of my good fortune in being hired for the 2012 Teach for America corps, the real work began.  Between mid-January and the start of the new school year in the fall, I have a lengthy list of action items which I need to complete.  Many of the initial items were quickly checked off (i.e., send TFA 5 official college transcripts, attend the onboarding and placement calls, create a teaching resume, participate in mock interview phone calls, attend a job fair, etc.).  But the most important (and moderately stressful) portion was about to commence:  The Testing!!!  <cue dramatic music>

Anyone wishing to teach in Massachusetts must take the MTELs (Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure).  Two tests (at minimum) have to be completed before someone can begin teaching: (i) the Literacy and Communications test and (ii) a subject matter test in your area of 'expertise' - in my case, the English subject matter test.  Let me start by saying, I do NOT like standardized tests and am not loving that I have to take three of them over the course of seven weeks.  Historically, I have never done well on standardized tests.  Please don't ask me about my SAT scores - I am still embarrassed by the results.  Additionally, my biggest complaint over the MTELs specifically is that they do not measure how effective the test taker will be as a teacher.  Just because you can memorize a truckload of facts and regurgitate them back for a test, does not mean that you will be able to effectively disseminate that knowledge to students.

That being said: in early February, I completed two practice tests for the MTELs and felt fairly confident (based on these tests) that I would pass the actual tests.  But I was concerned with certain parts of the English subject matter test.  Being a night student during my undergrad, I was limited to the classes I could take and therefore my studies were not quite as well rounded as they should have been.  I have rather large gaps in my curriculum and it showed in the practice tests.  I spent approximately three weeks attempting to remedy those gaps.  Beowolf, Chaucer and Sophocles are difficult enough when in an academic atmosphere - on your own, it's pure torture.  But one has to do what one has to do.

As of this posting, I have just completed both tests, but the scores will not be released for a few weeks.  On February 24th, I traveled to Boston to take the Communications and Literacy test and feel fairly confident that I passed (confidence level at 85%).  Out of the 4 hours allocated to take the test, I completed it in just under 3 hours.  If I don't pass the test, I will kick myself that I didn't utilize that last hour.  Today (March 3), the subject matter tests were held at Lynn English High School in Lynn, where I completed the English subject test.  The subject matter test was by far the more difficult of the two.  In fact, I would say it was grueling and the only people I can see actually passing that test is someone with dual Ph.D. in English Literature and Education.  So yeah, I have a feeling I did not fare well on this test.  My confidence level is hovering somewhere around 45% that I will receive a passing score.  After the test, I turned once again to a cupcake but this time in commiseration instead of celebration.  If I don't pass it, then I have to retake the test in June.  <sigh>  There's not much I can do about it now.  I'll just have to wait and see.  Maybe I should have chosen an easier career, like brain surgery.  It seems with that you just have to cut along the dotted line, right??

What's next?  I have one more test to take: the MATs (Miller Analogies Test), which I will take at Salem State University in April.  The plan is to attend grad school at Boston University, where the MATs are required as part of the application process.  If all goes well, by this September, I will be enrolled in the Master's program in Education which will take 2 years to complete.  Other action items coming up are: a background investigation, attending additional job fairs and, possibly, begin the interview process at regional school districts. The school districts that TFA works with are: Boston, Lawrence, Chelsea and Revere.  While Lawrence would be my first preference by virtue of locale and the exciting changes that the school district is implementing, any of these locations promise to be a challenging and rewarding district in which to work.

With the exception of a brief post on whether or not I passed the MTELs, my next 'career change' update might not be for awhile as the next big step is the TFA Summer Institute Training.  From late June through late July, all 2012 TFA corps members will travel to their summer institute location (Philadelphia is the destination for the Greater Boston corps) where we will spend our days teaching summer school and attending seminars in instructional planning, classroom management, learning theory, literacy, and diversity training.  It promises to be an exhausting but exhilarating 5 weeks.  I can't wait!

On a personal note:  I would like to mention that Teach for America hires the most amazing people to be a part of their corps (no, I'm not patting myself on the back).  Each and every corps and staff member that I have had the pleasure of meeting has been unbelievably supportive, organized, helpful, and amazing.  I could not have asked for a better group of people to assist me in making my career change an easy transition and to make my dream of being an educator a reality.  It has been the most amazing experience - so far - and I suspect it will only get better.  ♥