Pisgah National Forest

October, by far one of the best months to call the mountains home, has been insanely busy; not that I really care, but I had to google who won the World Series. And thank heavens, the peak was late this year or I would have completely missed it. I regret that the last pd institute occurred in a month that made it hard for me to stay present and savor the last big hurrah of my Kenan Fellowship experience.  So as I try to reflect, I find myself struggling to articulate what this experience has meant to me. 

But last night I found myself looking for my next fellowship.  When I applied for this fellowship, I loved my job as an ESL teacher.  The relationships you form when working with English Learners are long-term and lasting even after the students have graduated and moved onto new phases of their lives. Maybe it’s short-sighted of me, but I cannot envision replacing those connections in my new job as an instructional coach.  

By the time I was selected as Kenan Fellow, I’d made the decision to step out of the classroom. I was thinking that maybe it was time to explore a doctorate degree in either educational leadership or curriculum and instruction.  I figured I use this year to learn the ropes of the new job , complete the Kenan Fellowship, and research doctoral programs.

Then came the third and final professional development institute with its focus on educational policy and I was captivated.  So much so, that to my own surprise,  it’s causing me to pause and rethink my next steps. I think I will explore the concept of educational policy a little more before I make a commitment to a doctoral program.

Which brings me back to the original question – what has this experience meant to me?  I continue to share all the amazing ideas, resources, and strategies I gather from my fellowship with other teachers.  And I’m recruiting teachers I encounter in my district and region that have that drive, that creativity, that je ne sais quoi …  to explore the Kenan Fellowship.  Vamanos, Region 8.

But with regards to how this experience will impact my future, I’ll defer to Mr. Frost to articulate so much more eloquently than I could hope to.  

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.