Technically Assisting

Right now I'm procrastinating from collecting data about demographics and AYP status (Adequate Yearly Progress) about school districts. It can really take forever, but I'm finding that I enjoy collecting and analyzing data. And by analyzing, I mean sticking it into Excel and making a graph out of it, but I'm getting much better at using statistics. Which is good, because I've managed to never have taken a statistics course in my life.

I am in my third month of fellowship, and this means my health insurance has kicked in. Time to make every doctor's appointment ever. I feel like a grown-up.

My job responsibilities continue to broaden. While I still am the Maker of the Charts and the Recorder of the Minutes, I've been getting into more meetings with different people. I've helped create some videos that help advertise the different kinds of technical assistance we do.

I still hesitate in telling people that my organization does "technical assistance" because it sounds like IT. Foundations, Inc. does a lot of things under the umbrella of "technical assistance," including oversight of developing schools and educational programs, grant proposal assistance, helping education peers network, etc.

Of course, sometimes I'm kinda an IT person. By virtue of my age, I am a little more fluent with technology than your average adult over the age of 40, so often I am the go-to person for tech needs. It certainly makes me feel a lot smarter than COS 126 did.

I guess it's also important to mention that I was on a panel for Project 55 AlumniCorps Fellowships up in Princeton last Tuesday. It was fun, and I sincerely hope we can get more interest into the Philadelphia area! How can you resist a community who pronounces 'water' like 'wood-er'? (Yes, I grew up with this pronunciation and still slip sometimes...)