Teach for India calls...

My cousin tells me to fill a form....
I fill it...
It was an interesting form. It was like writing my autobiography. I had fun filling my details but it was not 'all play and no work'. There was work and the work was, in one word, TEDIOUS!!!
I had to write few essays - essays on educational inequity, one biggest thing I've accomplished, how did I accomplish it, what obstacles did I face, why do I want to join this organization etc etc...
I wrote the two of them and could not save it :( I wrote them again and somehow the computer stopped working. Obviously, the essays were not saved. Then I thought I'll write them afterwards.
My cousin decided to tie the knot on 26th January and we decided to attend the ceremony and leave on 23rd January for Bangalore. Note :- 23rd January was the last date to submit the filled form.
We got busy with planning, packing, persuading my bua and fufaji to accompany us to Bangalore and a few more trivial things. In short I did not get time to write the essays and submit the form.
Now we move to 23rd evening when I am reminded by my cousin to fill the form and I sit down at 10 pm to write the essays and submit it before the stroke of midnight. Thankfully, I am able to submit it before 12.
Off to Bangalore.
A very nice wedding and we enjoyed a lot.
Back from Bangalore.
One fine day, I get an email in my inbox. The mail goes like this :

Dear Applicant,

Congratulations! It is with pleasure that I invite you to participate in an in-person Assessment Centre with Teach For India.  We look forward to this opportunity to learn more about you and your interest in our program. .........

My cousin had also filled the form and she also got shortlisted for the day long assessment to become a fellow of Teach for India. Before I share with you the very different experience of the assessment, I would like  to tell you about Teach for India.

Teach for India is a nationwide movement of outstanding college graduates and young professionals who will commit two years to teach full-time in under resourced schools and who will become lifelong leaders working from within various sectors toward the pursuit of equity in education. For more details visit : http://www.teachforindia.org

Coming to my personal experience. We (I and my cousin) reached at 7:45am. There were few people so we had breakfast which we had carried with us. The assessment began after sometime. We were divided into groups and there was a group incharge for each group. Our group incharge was Kayt Norris from Quincy, Illionis. She is the program manager in Pune. I liked her instantly. She was very dynamic, gave very cute expressions and I liked her style. 

It started with introduction and after the introduction we had to tell one thing which we'll carry if we are going to a deserted island. Some people said food packets, some said mineral water, some said a flint!!!! and some said CELL PHONE!!!!! LOL!!!! I said I'll catch hold of my best friend and take her with me :P 

There were people from different backgrounds. Some were studying, some were working and some were jobless. It was fun to know people other than engineers :)

Then began the written round. Moderate questions related to the data that teachers handle were asked. This was Data interpretation but very different to what I used to do when I was preparing for CAT. The next round was GD and I must say an actual GD is very different from a mock GD. Even if you are a speaker, even if you have a loud voice, even if you know what should you say it is next to impossible to speak in a GD where people of almost same IQ level are sitting together. It was a fish market but somehow i managed to speak a sentence or so :P

After this began the most interesting part of the assessment. All the candidates were told to come prepared with a five minute teaching session. Any topic from grade 1 to grade 5 had to be chosen and had to be taught to fellow candidates like they were real students. I chose adjectives. Choosing English was obvious because it is my favourite subject and choosing adjectives was wise because a class of adjectives can be very interesting.    To make my class an interactive one I got coloured print outs of fat and thin man, tall and short man, clean and dirty pig, empty and full glass. I showed them to the class and used visual power to make my students understand the words well. It was a success (atleast among adult children :P). 

After all these rounds candidates had to be shortlisted for final interview. I was shortlisted :D :D but unfortunately two people from our group of 8 were not. Before the interview, there was a role play round where the interviewer plays the part of the principal of the school and I play the part of a teacher. The situation given to me was that I am teaching 3rd grade and the other 3rd standard teacher is transferred. I am told to take her class in addition to my own ( a total of 90 students) but the situation will be resolved soon. After 3 weeks, a new teacher has not come, and I am still teaching 90 students. I feel that I am not able to provide instruction to all students. as all my efforts go into ensuring good behaviour. My aim was to convince the principal to hire another 3rd standard teacher immediately. Now this was very interesting. It was very spontaneous, convincing, intelligent and it should not display that I am unable to control the class. Kayt was very difficult to convince but fianlly after a 5 minute discussion I was able to wonderfully convince her. :)

Then the interview began and speaking only about yourself for 45 minutes is a task. But I spoke a lot (surprisingly). I enjoyed telling her about myself (deeply). I forgot all that I had thought I would say and would not say (unknowingly). So I just told her who Pankhuri Shrivastava is and enjoyed it remarkably :D

One week after I get another email in my inbox. The mail goes like this :

Dear Prospective 2011 Teach For India Fellow,

It is our great pleasure to offer you admission to the 2011 Teach For India Fellowship. We are inspired by your past achievements, drive, and commitment to educational equity, and believe that you are ready for the challenge of teaching and leading for two years in an under-resourced school.

Congratulations on your acceptance into this selective Fellowship, offered to less than 10% of our applicants—an acceptance rate that is at par with leading institutions like Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, The Wharton School of Business and INSEAD.  This makes you one of the top leaders in the quest for educational equity for the nation.

Current Teach for India Fellows studied at the most prestigious colleges in India, such as IIT-Kanpur, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi and National Law School, Bangalore, and worked for the most sought-after corporations in the world, such as Bajaj Industries, Ernst & Young, and Goldman Sachs.  You comprise a diverse group of men and women, professionals and students. Despite being from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds, you are bound together by your unwavering dedication to solve India’s educational crisis, one child and one classroom at a time.

Leading companies such as Tata Power and ICICI Prudential have demonstrated their tremendous support for Teach For India by offering their employees a 2-year sabbatical to join our program.  In addition, companies such as Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital, and McKinsey recruit our Fellows for full-time jobs after their time in the Fellowship.

I am very happy I must say. I am glad to have been selected. My cousin also got into it :D It was a nice experience where I met some very interesting people and I hope the fellowship will be a wonderful chapter in my very capricious life. 

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