The hiring process was very frustrating for me, simply because I wasn’t getting any interviews! While most of the fellows were off interviewing over and over (and a few even getting hired) I wasn’t receiving anything at all. I had had one interview before institute but at that point I wasn't well-prepared to answer the types of questions they were asking. In the end I finally got called for two interviews on the same day, a week before school was to start. Institute had ended and those of us without jobs (about half) were feeling very stressed about our prospects. The RITF staff, who were always incredibly supportive and optimistic, seemed to be feeling the stress too. But now that I was finally getting a chance I was feeling good. After all, my training over the summer was the best interview prep I could possibly imagine. Those two interview were probably the best two interview performances of my life. There wasn’t one answer that I would have changed. And my self-assessment was on target - I was offered both jobs. So I had a choice to make... teach in a middle-class district where life would be easy or teach in the urban district that would be much more challenging but potentially more rewarding. I chose the latter, and now that I’m two months (feels like six) into my journey I have to admit there are days that I question that decision. But on the whole I do feel like I’m making a difference, even if things outside my control make it so much tougher than it should be. But it could be worse - my team is the best one in the school, and we’ve managed to have some fun. We took a trip up to Mount Wachuset and hiked all the way up, and we took another trip down to Foxwoods (my connections paid off) to see the “Bodies Revealed” human anatomy exhibit. Plus, my kids are actually learning some math (trust me, that’s a new thing for most of them). So far so good...