Upon being hired by Breakthrough Twin Cities, it’s important to know that Breakthrough isn’t just a job -- it’s a lifestyle. It’s an experience that will change your sleeping patterns and force you to multitask. It’ll help you make connections with everyone around you and make you turn inwards as you reflect on everything that is happening around you. Breakthrough is both an overwhelming experience and also the most rewarding thing that will ever happen to you. Not every Teaching Fellow who passes through Breakthrough becomes a teacher, but they always come out a little bit different than they were when they started at the beginning of the summer. I am back for a second summer, and I am constantly being reminded of everything that’s great about this environment and this lifestyle. You know you’re a Breakthrough teacher when…

You look forward to a daily visit from your own or your co-workers’ “cousins and twin siblings.”

ASM (All School Meeting) is highly anticipated by the students. They look forward to laughing at our “cousins and siblings” being goofy all while earning the codes to college success and solving the world’s problems.

Sleep? What’s that?

It’s not a big deal to come to work after staying up late at night and show high energy all day long on four and a half hours of sleep (or less). Which goes right along with the next part…

You’re no longer phased by the high energy of your work environment.

I remember teaching for the first time at Breakthrough in 2015 and I was super freaked out that everyone was so happy and that there was so much shouting. I just didn’t know what to do and I wished everyone would just calm down a little bit. Now I join in and it’s not a big deal! Being part of the high energy is even fun now!

‘Fake it ‘til you make it’ becomes your mantra.

Feeling really stressed about everything? Something really bothering you at home? Something not going right in the middle of your lesson and you have zero idea how to fix it? You’ll never know. It’s not that we don’t deal with everything else that’s happening outside of Breakthrough or that we bottle up our feelings to deal with them starting August 13 (the day after wrap-up week ends). It’s just that there’s a focus on the kids while we are teaching them and we learn to go with the flow until there’s a good time to handle our problems and worries.

You start speaking in acronyms and suddenly no one outside of Breakthrough knows what you’re talking about.

The ICs came to ASM and read off the Q.O.D.s while the TFs reflected on their BIT trainings and wrote their LPs to be turned in later, only to remember that they should have been KIFing. Did you get all of that information? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t.

You can recall a cheer for almost any occasion.

Want someone to sing? Want to reminisce about the theme from a previous Breakthrough summer? Want to get everyone excited about Celebration? Want to get the kids to keep their hands inside the bus? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

I am so happy and proud to be back working for this awesome organization for a second year. I have taken on challenges that I couldn’t have imagined doing my first year. I am extremely excited for the teachers who are currently experiencing their first summer of teaching-- this is going to be a summer they will always remember in some capacity.