So, a couple of weeks ago, I had my interview for the Secondary Ed. program. I've been meaning to blog about it, because it REALLY irked me, but I haven't had a chance until now.
They do the interviews in a group setting, which I think is a great idea. The format is simple. A group of applicants are placed in a room with an observer and an observer/moderator. The moderator poses a question, and then gives 10 minutes or so for the group to just discuss. If you can't hold your own and be nice in a group of fellow college students, how can you handle a room of high school or junior high kids?
Lucky for me [/sarcasm], I was in the same group as a VERY loud, opinionated woman who is in one of my classes. A few weeks before this, I had argued with her in class about gay/straight alliance clubs. She thinks that any club based on sex is wrong. I think that gay/straight alliance isn't about sex, but is about showing that us straight people can be friends and hang out with gay people despite the fact that we don't share the same sexuality (something Utah needs).
The first question posed to the group was "What would you do to change the current state of education?" I though, "Hmm. This won't be too bad."
The second question was "Would you hire an openly gay teacher?" Crap. I knew this was going to be an issue. So, before she could speak up (she was the most vocal of the entire group), I blurted out my thoughts so that when she spoke, she would be the one arguing with me.
My thoughts consisted of the following (some of them were rebuttals to her arguments): not all gays are obsessed with talking about sex all the time (just like not all straights are), just having a gay person around your kids doesn't mean your kids are going to be gay (just like having a straight person around doesn't make you straight), along the same lines- having a gay role model in a specific school subject doesn't make you want to be gay- just better at that subject, and my last big point was that if people are going to have an issue with gay teachers talking about the fact that they're gay in school then straight teachers shouldn't be able to talk about their spouses and children in school either.
Loud Mouth FLIPPED at my first two arguments. She went on and on about how she has 10 kids of her own and she doesn't want them to be exposed to gay teachers because it will make them gay and bad people. When she brought up the role model thing, I said "In my field, there are LOTS of great gay people. If I see a gay man who's a great costume designer, I don't say 'Wow! He's such a great gay costume designer. It inspires me to be a gay costume designer.' Instead, I say 'Wow! That makes me want to be a better costume designer.'"
She totally tried to throw that back at me and said "See, even youcan't make reference to him without talking about the fact that he's gay. You said 'a gay costume designer.'" I laughed it off and said "I labeled him that for the sake of our argument in demonstrating my point. I would never say that in real life." And she got judgmental and said "I would hope not!"
Anyhoo, she made a HUGE deal about how having gay people in the school environment is horrible for kids. When every other person in the room agreed with me that if gay teachers can't mention their partners or even the fact they're gay in school, then straight teachers shouldn't be able to mention their private lives either, Loud Mouth disagreed and basically said that it's fine for straight people because they're doing the right thing. BLARGH!
Later, we had to choose what people we would save if we had 3 kidneys to transplant and 10 people in need of kidneys. She immediately said that a man who had been in prison for rape should die, and I said "I would need to know the circumstances. What if it was a false conviction? What if he's reformed?" And she flipped again and said that anybody who's been convicted of rape deserves to die. I got really snarky and said "I believe that people are capable of change and repentence when they've made a mistake." She tried to argue that rape is not a mistake, and I said "So, then rape is a good thing to do?" That shut her up.
Ugh. After the interview was over, I felt like there was NO way I could get into the program after the way I had argued with her. But at the same time, I thought "Good! Maybe she won't make it either. There is no way in hell I would want that woman teaching my children."
Well, I got an e-mail today telling me that I've been accepted and to watch for the official letter of acceptance in the mail.
If Loud Mouth gets in, though, I'll be really disappointed. She argued with everyone else in the room. Even a guy who is a Branch President took my side on the gay issues, and at the end, he even freaked her out by saying "By the way, I'm gay." HA! She looked like she was going to die. When he said he was kidding, though, she said "I knew it. There couldn't be a gay Branch President."
What a cow. Please cross your fingers and pray that I don't have to spend the next year dealing with her. Loud Mouth, this video goes out to you:
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