Less than 24 hrs in RI

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So, I feel like I start all of these more or less the same way—with an apology for being so long since the last time I wrote.  This working everyday of the week definitely keeps me super busy and leaves very little time to do anything other than eat and sleep.  But, since I have a seven-hour train ride, I guess I finally have some time to do a little updating.  Why am I on a train for seven hours?  Don’t worry, I’ll get to that (this is apparently going to be a long entry).  I also realize there is nothing of Hawaii in here, but that will have to wait for another entry.

Lately, other than working, eating, and sleeping, I’ve been in the middle of post-grad applications.  I have applied to Teach for America, George Washington University’s Master of Arts in Museum Education, and the Rhode Island School of Design’s Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning in Art and Design, Museum Education track.  Please forgive some of my ramblings below, on top of updating you with what is going on in my life, I am also taking this opportunity to sort out what I’ve learned about each program and think through my notes.

Teach for America is a fairly involved and incredibly competitive application process.  I have made it to the final round of full day interviews.  For the interview day I have to prepare a five-minute lesson plan, read five articles to be discussed on the interview day, and prepare for a one on one interview.  I think I have finally come up with some good ideas for my lesson plan (at least I hope I have since my interview is next week).  Now I just have to find time to practice them and figure out which of the two is better.  Anyway, if accepted to TFA, I have listed Seattle and New Mexico as my top two choices.  If by some miracle I get accepted, whether or not I choose TFA over Grad school might depend on where they place me.

GW was definitely the easiest application process.  I filled out an online application, submitted a resume and cover letter, had two recommenders, and had a very relaxing phone interview.  During my interview, we mostly discussed the work I have been doing at the Museum, my observations and understanding of the museum as a collaborating institution, etc.  It was pretty straightforward, and sounds like it was nothing like the interviews the two current GW grad students interning at my museum had to go through (but then theirs sounded very different, so who knows).  What I know about GW’s program is all information I have picked up from alumni and current students.  With its location in DC, most of the Education programs in the city’s museums are full of GW alums, including mine.  I think seven of the women in my department (not counting the two interns) went through the program (and there are a total of 13 people, not counting interns, in the department).  One problem with the program is it does flood the market in DC, if I were planning on staying in the city.  This program begins in June and lasts for two years.  During their time in DC, students complete coursework, participate in an internship at an area museum, and write a thesis.  (As a totally random side note, we just passed through Mystic, as in the Julia Roberts movie Mystic Pizza.  This train ride is definitely way more interesting than the eleven hour train ride through the middle of the desert from Flagstaff to Los Angeles).  With the abundance of museums in the DC area, students are given the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences in a wide variety of museums.  Based on my impression, the GW program teaches its students to the skills needed to be a museum educator in a general sense.  The small field of museum education and limited number of positions makes transferability of skills very necessary.

And now to finally explain the seven-hour train ride.  I am on my way back to DC after an interview on campus at RISD in Providence, RI.  This was a very whirlwind trip.  I got into Prov at like 7:30 last night, checked into my hotel, had dinner, crashed, was at RISD by 9 this morning for an introduction to the program and tour of the buildings, then we had a tour of the University Museum (amazingly broad collection and pretty cool space), then lunch with two current students in the program, then my personal interview, back to the hotel to pick up my bag and change into normal clothes, then to the train station, and on the train at four, I’ll be back in DC around 11:30.  Phew, what a run-on sentence, anyway…  So, the RISD program actually sounds pretty interesting.  They are in the middle of the process of getting approval to change the program from a two-year program to a one-year program.  Currently, the program is two years, during the fall and spring semester of the first year you complete coursework.  During the winter session students complete a 6-month internship off campus, one of the students we met with just got back from her internship in Chicago.  The second year of the program is for conducting off campus research and completing a thesis.  It is hoped that during this time students will also be working.  With the change to a one-year program, students will no longer do a winter internship and the thesis becomes less formal and completed as a part of general coursework.  Considering that I have spent the last two years working in a museum, the loss of an internship is less of an issue for me.  My interview seemed to go really well.  I felt well prepared.  It was funny to learn that the director of education at the RISD museum of art (one of my interviewers) is a good friend of my current supervisor from when they worked at MoMA together.  This is a ridiculously small field I am entering into (just to further illustrate how small, one of the current MA students we had lunch with knows one of the other women I work with at the museum).  But yeah, I was happy with the answers I gave during the interview and they seemed very responsive and engaged.  So I should find out about both RISD and GW in the next couple of weeks.

A little random anecdote from my trip.  I will preface this with:  I owe my father an apology for all the times I rolled my eyes or gave him crap for talking to strangers.  Mom can tell you about many a times when I would whisper to her “Mom, dad’s talking to strangers again,” when I was younger.  Talking to strangers on this trip got me a free cab ride, a free meal, and a good conversation with a bartender.  Granted, it was a like 3 minute cab ride that cost $3.  All I had was 20 and the driver didn’t have change, so he just let me go.  For dinner, I ate at the Union Station Brewery.  Since I was alone, I sat at the bar.  The bartender was very nice.  We had a very easy conversation about a lot of things, I was there for almost three hours.  Shortly after I sat down, a gentleman in his mid- to late- forties sat down next to me, he was travelling on business.  I also had a nice conversation with him.  It came up that I was in town for a grad school interview.  When he finished his meal, he paid for mine as well, simply as a good luck on your big interview tomorrow.  So, talking to strangers got me a free ride, a good meal, and a good conversation, possibly even a new friend if I end up in Prov.

In summation, it is very possible I have some really tough decisions ahead of me and I’ve only managed to successfully kill an hour and a half of this trip.  Oh well, I think I’ve rambled on enough, I don’t need to continue to do so.  Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have some really good news!

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