Hello, indeed, world!

I am so excited that I figured out how to start up a blog on here! I spent a lot of time reading other blogs during the application process trying to figure out what TFA was really like. I hope that maybe someone else may see this blog sometime and I will help them along in the process, too!

For a brief introduction– my name is Erin. I graduated last fall from Rutgers University with a double major in Evolutionary Anthropology and Art History. It took me 9.5 semesters to finish undergrad and I am glad that it’s finally over! I spent my first two years of college at Tulane University in New Orleans studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I made the decision to transfer back home to New Jersey and Rutgers and I am so thrilled that I did. I found my niche quickly at Rutgers with the Evo. Anthro. department. I first fell in love with primatology because of my background from Tulane (and a transformative summer I spent in the Costa Rican rainforest as a field assistant).  I then fell for bones. And it stuck. I am an osteology nut who gets her kicks from identifying bone fragments (I always did like puzzles…). I tacked on Art History because it has always been one of my loves. I have been an ‘artist’ forever- primarily painting- and art history allowed me to get my art fix without trying for a BFA or something silly like that

I have recently dubbed myself a dabbler. I love learning a little bit of everything and have found that I also enjoy sharing (teaching) those things with others. My decision to apply for TFA was a natural one. I just felt (in all 206 of my bones) the need to teach. I am thrilled about my placement in Middle School Science in the Greater Newark region. Interestingly, it would’ve been my middle-school self’s WORST nightmare. I HATED- and I mean it- science until college. I was always a writer, reader, drawer. Then I took a class called ‘Diversity of Life’ to fulfill a gen. ed. requirement during my freshman year and I got hooked. Now, I really hope that I can turn around some young minds who might fear, disregard or even HATE science.

What else about me? I am an animal lover and a dog enthusiast. I share my world with two rescued mutts, Simon and Elinore. They have been in my life for 10 and 8 years, respectively. I live in a lovely little house with two guys. I date a wonderful man named Phil who was in my major at Rutgers and is awaiting responses from his graduate school applications in forensic anthropology. I am the 4th of 5 children. I am an aunt to 3. My full time job right now is studying for the Praxis II tests I will be taking in the next 1-2 months.

That’s about it… I hope this served as a good general introduction. I will post more tomorrow about TFA related stuff, but I thought this was an important first step!