I have a TFA interview in half an hour!

So I’m going to go interview for Teach For America in half an hour. It’ll take most of the day (you know it’s a long interview when they tell you to bring money for lunch). It’s a pretty cool-looking program, and I’m a little excited about it. People say I will make a fantastic brilliant-asshole teacher.

I’m going to run a short lesson on polynomial factoring.

I’m not entirely sure how badly I want it - I care quite a bit about giving people chances at meaningful educations, but circumstances say that my first-choice locations are pretty unlikely because of schedule conflicts (fairly important; you have to enjoy where you live) and my parents are about ready to disown me if I take it (surprisingly, I’m less frustrated over this than the other thing - it’s a long-held article of faith with my friends that my parents are certifiable). I take a really (think $15-20K/year) steep paycut versus going into industry… if I can get a job there. Most of the places I’ve left resumes haven’t called back, or are only making noncommittal noises.

Anyone have any experiences with it, one way or the other? Should I have a job lined up already? Engineering-types who’ve done it, is it worth it?

Okay, now I have my TFA interview in 20 minutes. dash