The person of the week is twofold. First it is a young women who in 1988 was attempting to graduate from Princeton University. In order to do this she had to complete a thesis. A daunting task to be sure. Her undergraduate degree was awarded to her in the spring of 1989. Her thesis was just the beginning of her idea.
This woman is Wendy Kopp. Her thesis proposed that people of her generation were wanting to make a difference in the world. Not a "I donated money" or "I spend my weekends helping out" type of change. A "give me all the responsibility as my job and I will be the change" type of change. She theorized that if there were a Peace Corps for teachers and it was well run, organized, and actually worked, then the top students in the country would clamor to take teaching jobs in under served areas. They would turn down big time job offers in order to work as a teacher.
She was right. Teach for America has been an amazing success. Obviously it has its own horror stories from individuals, but that tends to be the exception and not the rule. It is not an easy job whatsoever, and it is a highly competitive application process. Something is right with this generation.
The secondfold of the two fold person of the week are the people I know who volunteers or volunteered with Teach for America. Megan, Gordy, and Julie keeping on rocking. I hope you are loving it still.
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