Another meme...

Here's the Meme: Explain your LiveJournal name and its meaning. When you're done, tag as many people as there are letters in your name. Nuts to that.

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When I started this journal in 2001, my last name was Atreides. I'd changed it to that when I was 18 because my adopted family disowned me and I didn't feel right taking my father's name. So I took "Atreides" because Frank Herbert's Dune Chronicles was (and remains) one of the seminal influences on my thinking about politics, religion, and philosophy.

So, when I started my LJ, I wanted to use a name that would echo the "Atreides" theme. I tried Muad'dib and Muad_dib, along with other variations, but all were taken. So I thought "Hrm, what else would relate to Dune... oh! Paul's title among the Fremen is Mahdi... maybe that will work!" And it did. So it stuck.

Project Impact: Could be Crashed

So, the SCUSD program (which is properly known as Project Impact) has been delayed for reasons unknown, but today I got this email from the SCUSD director:

You should be getting a letter from Impact by tomorrow that will hopefully clear things up. I have not read the letter that is being sent, but hopefully if will provide the answers you (and everyone else) have been waiting for.

Oh, dear. Hopefully it won't be "There's no funding and no positions. Sorry. Good luck."

Ah well. I'm turning in my application to Project Pipeline today.

Project Impact: Screwed

It looks like the likelihood of being employed by the SCUSD is gone. I just got a letter saying, basically, that SCUSD isn't ready to make offers to interns at this time, and that we should seek employment in other districts. The thing is, that basically means Stockton and Galt -- two places I do not want to work.

In the meantime, they're saying I should take the preservice class in June on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights just in case SCUSD decides to hire me. I guess I don't really have a choice, unless Pipeline snaps me up before then and gets me a position somewhere else.

*sigh* Never fails--just when everything is going my way, the universe screws with me. I finally manage to graduate, with a high GPA, and this happens. It's not anyone's fault; financial problems in the district have caused this (they had to lay off a bunch of Primary educators, and those people get first shot at the secondary education jobs). But it stinks. And brings home that I should have done all this years ago, when I was first in school. Why the hell did I ever leave? I should have swallowed my pride, moved back in with my parents, and kept going to school. Of course, my study habits at the time were crap, so I probably wouldn't have done as well as I did now, but ... eh. Second-guessing the past isn't going to get me anywhere.

It looks like Project Pipeline is now my best chance. I turned in that application today; let's hope for some good news.

Edit: Seems another part of the problem is that SCUSD is MASSIVELY in the hole, financially speaking.

Hey, I almost forgot!

Happy Birthday, vivalabonita!

Project Impact: Not dead, but very much changed.

Ok, so this is the thing, as I understand it:

SCUSD will be hiring no interns thanks to the financial problems of the district. It's still possible for me to get accepted by Project Impact, provided I can get hired in the West Sacramento school district. But this basically means I'm going to have to get NEW copies of all my transcripts, my CBEST verification, etc. etc. I can even apply to Sac City, but if hired, it will be a COMPLETELY different program -- no student teaching at summer school, just the "Introduction to teaching" course and then the weekly classes for two years. Just like Project Pipeline.

It's a start. I've got a call in to the guy at the West Sac district to see what I need to do. I'll be looking at all the districts in Sacramento, applying to them via the Impact program AND Pipeline, and all that. I might get lucky. On the other hand, I might be working as a sub for the next year. It could go any way, at this point.

The downside is that now, if I get hired at ANY district, I have to pay $500 for the introductory coursework. The REAL downside is that if I don't get hired at a district through Impact by June 8th, then I'm screwed (or I have to pay the fee anyway, without any guarantee of a job). If I get accepted to Pipeline, it's the same cost. There's no way around that. But if I don't get a position pretty quick, it closes off Project Impact completely.