Pre-Service Training Questionnaire

This evening, I attended the year-end fête of the public service organization that has been the backbone of my college experience. Many of my friends received awards for their contributions to the organization, and the speeches were reflective, leading to an evening in pleasant conversation about social justice, the work we've done, and the work that has yet to be realized. (Of particular note was the discussion of radicals vs. liberals. I am firmly of the opinion that both are vital to the social justice movement. One needs the fist pounding on the wall to rouse the hearts of the oppressed, but one also needs a mason to chip away the key stones. A fist alone soon grows tired and bruised, and simply plucking away stones only makes tiny holes. But together they can topple the wall.)

Anyhow, after this therapeutic ending ritual, I was delighted to find one of the first concrete signs of the new chapter in life in my inbox- the Pre-Service Training Questionnaire. It was pretty straightforward- smoking, drinking, and other host family preferences as well as a condensed work history and language learning history. It makes me happy to see that they really do customize training for each group.

A couple of the questions were a little stickier- "What is the most important factor we should consider in your site placement?"- was the most interesting. I finally deciding on answering with my preference for teaching low-level students. I'm much better at that than fine tuning the skills of advanced students. We'll see how that goes.

Staging information should come soon! It's exciting to see the growing crowd of 15's on the facebook group. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.