When Aron Olegnowicz-Cruz thinks about his future, he envisions getting his MBA and working in business. But for now, the 22-year-old works as a special education teacher at a charter elementary school in Columbus, Ohio.
Olegnowicz-Cruz is in his first two years of teaching with Teach for America, the nonprofit organization that recruits recent college graduates to teach in underserved schools across the US.
Olegnowicz-Cruz, who studied political science and psychology at Ohio State University and took a summer pre-MBA fellowship at Harvard Business School, had not planned to teach. He then learned about TFA from the Association of Latino Professionals for America.
He learned that taking a teaching job today can help him achieve his personal and long-term career goals.
A teaching job with financial stability and livelihood
TFA has its share of critics, including those who say it doesn’t help low-income students get qualified teachers and that two-year commitments by corporate members accelerate turnover in areas that need stability. Meanwhile, supporters say the program brings people from elite backgrounds into the classroom and could encourage a new wave of leaders to join the education system at large.
Teaching isn’t exactly a low-stakes profession: it’s notorious for its low wages, burnout rates and staff shortages.
For its part, TFA has worked to address common challenges and appeal to Gen Z college graduates, who like Olegnowicz-Cruz are increasingly concerned about their post-college financial stability and work-life balance making a significant and positive impact on their early careers. .
Although she had the option of teaching in Miami or New York, Olegnowicz-Cruz was happy to learn she could stay and teach in Columbus, where she says having friends and family nearby has helped her avoid isolation after college for to move to one. the new community.
Plus, he says his starting salary of $49,000 helps him live comfortably there, while he thought the local salary in more expensive cities wouldn’t stretch that far.
“I’m a big advocate of diving into the unknown and the thrill of meeting new people in a new chapter,” he says. “But I also realize that in taking on such an emotionally demanding job as teaching, especially in an underserved school, I wanted to make those factors a little easier on myself and stick with something that would bring me consolation.”
Olegnowicz-Cruz began TFA training last summer to develop teaching skills and completed intensive training at his placement school before working with students. He meets the requirements set forth by the Ohio State Board of Education and is licensed to teach special education.
His daily life
Olegnowicz-Cruz goes to school every day at 7:30 a.m. to prepare for classes starting at 9 a.m. Throughout the day, students visit his classroom for specialized one-on-one sessions to work toward their goals. of learning, whether it’s learning how to read or better understanding the math lessons their general education class is teaching.
Olegnowicz-Cruz also visits some students in their classrooms throughout the day to provide individualized instruction to the students alongside their general education teacher.
He sees a handful of students each day, with breaks to supervise recess until class breaks at 4:15 p.m. He spends the rest of the afternoon lesson planning, meeting with teachers, contacting students’ families, and generally keeping track of the progress his students are making. It’s a “lucky” day when he can leave school by 6 p.m., when he says a visit to the gym helps him unwind physically and mentally.
The biggest challenges of his job are things beyond his control, like when students arrive late to school due to unreliable transportation issues. His schedule, while locked to the minute, must also be flexible to accommodate students who arrive late or need to reschedule their session with him.
Because every challenge is also a bright spot, especially the one-on-one reading sessions with his students, who range from 4 to 10 years old, Olegnowicz-Cruz says, “That has to be the most emotionally rewarding part of the job. teaching children to read.”
Making an impact
Ultimately, Olegnowicz-Cruz says he’s inspired to learn by thinking about how supportive teachers shaped his life. Olegnowicz-Cruz was born in Mexico and moved to Ohio when he was young; he learned English through public school and was encouraged to take on leadership roles through extracurricular programs, eventually acting as president and founder of numerous student groups at the college.
In the same way, Olegnowicz-Cruz hopes to inspire his students to work hard and have high expectations for themselves in order to set and achieve their goals.
By the end of his time as a corporate member, Olegnowicz-Cruz will receive a $13,000 educational stipend from AmeriCorp and TFA, which he will apply toward earning his MBA or pursuing a master’s degree year-long leadership through program in China. He has also been offered a business consulting internship in Washington, DC, for the summer.
As for his future in business, Olegnowicz-Cruz is most interested in economic development and supporting access to high-quality education throughout the global south, including Africa, Asia and Latin America.
“The job I have now is super rewarding,” he says, “and I know that everything I’m learning, not only in terms of organizing my day-to-day, but managing stakeholders, working with data, all of that. transferable skills are a huge asset to where I want to go and the impact I want to have on a systemic level.”
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